


Marriage (and other diplomatic moves)

by Blizzaurus



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Grounder wedding, Lexa needs a drink, Marcus and Abby are idiots in love, Mutual Pining, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, this fic is just a shameless excuse to use my favorite tropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-12-03 03:33:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 59,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11523675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blizzaurus/pseuds/Blizzaurus
Summary: Peace has finally been established between all 13 clans. The celebration of the new treaty goes well enough - until Prince Reghan of the Broadleaf clan settles his eyes on Abby. To protect her from the prince's aggressive advances, Marcus proclaims that Abby is his betrothed, despite her being just his friend (and the object of his indefinable feelings). The prince is skeptical - so he decides to test the claim by throwing the pair a grandiose Grounder wedding. Lexa makes it clear that Marcus and Abby cannot refuse; the whole peace is at stake if the prince, known for being easily provoked, finds out he was lied to.It's up to Marcus and Abby to keep up the facade of a romantic relationship and go through with the wedding. Their mission is definitely going to be awkward, but achievable for the sake of the alliance. However, things turn complicated when they both realize that pretending to be in love is alarmingly easy...





	1. The lie

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in a universe where none of the bad stuff from season 3 ever happened (I like my Lexa and Lincoln alive and well, thank you very much). Abby and Marcus are purely at the friendship stage.
> 
> (The rating is for later chapters).

It had finally happened. After months of teeth grinding, thinly veiled threats, and fists slamming into tables, the peace had been finally established between all 13 clans, much to the fortune of every negotiator's mental health. Kongeda was united again under Commander Lexa's rule, and this time it would hopefully be stronger than ever. 

The celebration of the treaty took place in the village and its nearby clearing which marked the border between three clans, Trikru, Louwoda Kliron and Azgeda. Tents had been put up with offerings from all the clans, whether it was delicacies, beautiful handmade accessories, curiosities of nature, or enormous barrels of wine whose taps were never closed for too long.

The middle of the clearing had been left open for dancers, and dance they did. The music and laughter had been continuing all night. But the one person who thought that the celebration could not end soon enough was, ironically, the very person who had worked the hardest for peace. 

Marcus, even though he had the status of an honorary guest, a cup full of fine wine in his hand, and smiling Abby by his side, was unable to enjoy himself. One recurring incident kept bothering him endlessly and caused his mood to darken in a steady cycle. And it did not take long for the incident to happen again when Marcus guided Abby to a little stand which was filled beautiful flowers.

"Gon yu houmon," the woman behind the stand said, holding out a tiny flower to Marcus. _For your wife._

Marcus internally groaned. Not again.

When the night had been young, Marcus had found it amusing that people kept mistaking Abby as his wife. He had simply laughed before correcting them, not sparing it a second thought. But as the night went on, and the number of people making the mistake grew, Marcus became more and more annoyed. The thought of them together, married even, was initially so comical just because of its pure absurdity, but the humor behind it was quickly lost when everyone seemed spout the same assumption from their mouths. Now it just stung. 

Not because Marcus wished to be married to Abby. Definitely not. 

Abby was his friend, a fact that for which he would be eternally grateful, and he couldn't let himself even consider anything beyond that. Not when it was hard to believe even that she was there, standing beside him, smiling one of her lovely smiles at him. He didn't want to mess this up. 

But because outsiders kept presuming that Abby was his wife, Marcus was starting to feel self-conscious about the way he acted around her. During the feast he had never once left her side, nor had she insinuated that he should leave, but Marcus still felt guilty. He must have been doing something wrong. Maybe the look in his eyes had been too soft when he'd gazed at her, or perhaps he had accidentally touched her for too long or even looked at the men trying to talk to her in a funny way.

He knew that he didn't need to keep her company and perhaps he shouldn't, but he really didn't want to leave, and it made him feel selfish to his very core that he wanted to be near to her at any time. Just being with her made him happy and as he glances her way, Abby seems to be content as well,  which he uses as a justification for staying.

"Em nou laik ai houmon, em laik ai lukot nou mo," he repeated for what had to be hundredth time. She's not my wife, she's just my friend.  
The grounder woman just kept smiling and pushed the flower towards Marcus. He had no choice but to accept it before flashing the woman a stiff smile.  He guided Abby away who seemed clueless to what had just happened, not understanding Trigedasleng and Marcus was definitely not going to tell her. It would most likely make her uncomfortable, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Marcus twisted the flower in his hands. It was so small, barely the size of his thumb. He noticed Abby's curious gaze as he examined it. 

"Here." He presented it to her.

"For me?" Abby accepted the flower with a grateful smile. Marcus felt suddenly nervous about the implication of the gesture. 

"From that woman," Marcus said quickly. "A sign of goodwill, I think."

"Ah." Abby brought the flower to her nose before taking a long sniff. 

After smelling the flower she kept turning it in her hand, seemingly wondering what to do with the tiny thing. Marcus saw Abby slipping her wedding band from its familiar place until she could press the flower between the metal of the ring and her finger. An innocent act in her eyes, but Marcus felt like somebody had dumped a pile of burning coals on his head. 

Abby lifted her head, smiling, and he returned her smile, but the moment her gaze turned away Marcus' face fell. The flower pressed between her finger and her ring was just a painful reminder of why things could never be more than friendly between them and that he had to find a way to stop people from assuming that they were together. He should never have Jake's place, even if it was simply in the minds of strangers.

While they walked around and observed the festivities, Marcus mulled over the incidents in his head and started to grow frustrated, angry even. At himself mostly, but also at the people daring to presume something about his and Abby's relationship. It was not like they behaved like an actual married couple, like Abby and Jake had done. She did not cling to his arm or give him one of her special smiles. Neither did  Marcus occasionally entwine his fingers with hers or whisper something private to her. They only walked together, occasionally glancing each other and smiling. They didn't even brush fingers. 

After realizing he had been staring at Abby's fingers for far too long while being immersed in these thoughts, he quickly diverted his gaze and became fascinated by the outfits of the celebrators.

A small child emerged from the press of the crowd. He ran blindly ahead and bumped into Abby's leg, letting out a tiny yelp. He ended up falling on his butt on the ground, and remaining there, sitting, utterly confused at the sudden barrier in his way. 

The mother of the child followed along hurriedly. "I am so sorry," she said in English after noticing the Skaikru emblem on the cape around Abby's shoulders. 

Abby smiled. "It's okay." She crouched down to the boy's level." What's your name?"

The boy did not say anything, probably not understanding a word of English. The woman lifted the child in her lap and put on a stern expression. "Yu moba raun dison gada en emon houmon."

_Apologize to this lady and her husband._

Marcus pinched his eyes shut. He was seriously starting to consider just retreating to his room, honorary guest status be damned. 

The boy in the woman's lap refused to talk, only pursed his lips. "Children," the mother chuckled. "Do you have your own?"

After finding her daughter amongst the dancers, Abby pointed at Clarke who was trying teach Lexa a Skaikru dance. The commander looked utterly terrified at all the hip swaying while Clarke just laughed and tried to pull her in. 

"She's a beautiful girl."

"She takes after her father," Abby chuckled.

The woman looked at Marcus, then glanced at Clarke. "She doesn't resemble him much—"

"I think it's time for us to stop bothering you," Marcus said quickly before smiling at the woman and gesturing Abby to leave with him. 

"You and your wife have a lovely evening!" the woman called out after them. Marcus had not retreated hastily enough and he knew that Abby had heard the woman's exclamation. 

Abby snorted. "Oh god, she thought we were—"

Marcus attempted a laugh too, trying to ignore the faint prickling inside his chest. "I know. Ridiculous."

But every time Abby let out a new giggle he felt a new tiny stab, and he couldn't understand why. She was just as amused as he had been in the beginning of the celebration, and he didn't think of himself as a man whose pride could be easily hurt by something like this. 

Abby turned her eyes to Marcus and abruptly stopped her laughter after taking one look at him. She gulped and looked down, an abashed expression on her face. It seemed that Marcus' face had betrayed him, even when he had tried not to let there be anything to betray. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." 

"It's okay. It was a funny mistake."

Abby drew in a deep breath. "Any woman would be extremely lucky to—"

Marcus pinched his eyes shut. "Abby, please stop."

An uncomfortable silence fell upon them. Abby started twisting the ring on her finger, as she always did when she was nervous. Marcus was unable to move his eyes away from the flower which moved along with the ring as Abby fiddled with it. The damn plant was driving him mad.

"Shall we get more wine?" he suggested quickly. Abby nodded with enthusiasm, seeming just as keen to escape the awkwardness. 

Thankfully the man pouring cups for the guests did not call Abby his wife, but that might have been because Marcus didn't initiate any chit-chat outside of asking for another drink after immediately downing the first one he was given. 

And he was definitely going to need a third cup soon if the night kept going on like this. 

While he drank his wine and tried to have a polite conversation with Abby, the music around them switched to a beautiful melody which captured her attention. She turned to observe the dancing. 

Marcus noticed some delinquents amongst the dancers. Lincoln and Octavia were trying to show the others how the grounder dance was supposed to go, but the rest of the couples seemed to have difficulties following them. Monty kept stumbling on Harper's feet, Bellamy and Raven were improvising their own dance, Clarke had a hard time trying to convince Lexa to move her feet which were firmly planted to the ground, and Murphy and Emori weren't even trying, just observing the others in amusement. Everyone was smiling and laughing despite their less than perfect performance. 

"They seem to be having so much fun," Abby smiled.

"Yes, they sure do."

"Don't you feel any desire to join?" She teased. "You don't always need to be so stoic, this peace was possible partly because of your efforts, after all."

"I'll let them celebrate and stay on the sidelines myself," Marcus said and took a sip, letting his scrutiny sweep the dancing pairs once again. 

He glanced at her. Abby had her eyes closed, a hint of a smile on her face as she gently swayed to the music and hummed the melody.  
He quickly looked away. 

"Curious thing, this grounder wine." He lifted his glass up, squinting his eyes at the liquid swirling inside it. "I wonder what kind of a fermentation process was used?"

Abby didn't answer, remaining engrossed in the music. 

Marcus fought the urge to look at her again, as he knew exactly that the dreamy expression on her face would make him consider very unwise things, like doing something so bold as grabbing her hand and leading her into the midst of the other dancers. And that would be a very bad idea. Not for the fact that Marcus was not sure how adept he was dancing and would probably end up embarrassing them both, but for the fact that it would most likely be too presumptuous of an act for their new and precious friendship.

He wished there was a list of things he was allowed to do, like lay a comforting hand on her shoulder or a brush a strand of hair behind her ear without constantly feeling like he was crossing a line, or causing assumptions to emerge.

Somebody snapped a finger in front of his face. Marcus flinched. 

"I just wanted to inform you that I am going to take my mom dancing since it seems that you're never going to ask her," Clarke said, having suddenly materialized in front of him. 

Marcus was not sure what to answer to that.

Abby smiled and took her daughter's hand, but seemed to remember something at the last minute. 

"Thank you for lending me this." Abby unfastened the cape around her. It was part of the ceremonious ambassador's clothing which had been originally given to Marcus but he had quickly handed it to Abby when he had noticed the woman shivering in a cold breeze. Underneath the cape she had on a beautiful, flowy dress that had been provided by Lexa's seamstresses. In Marcus's eyes, she was donned in a beautiful gauzy cloud, rather than in a piece of clothing. 

Watching her walk away, the hem of her dress slightly swaying in the wind, Marcus felt a pang in his chest. Frowning, he tried to identify the source of the feeling.

_Did he wish he could be in Clarke's place?_

Marcus lowered his glass. He clearly had too much to drink.

The air was becoming chilly but Marcus deemed it best not to but his cape back on. Being surrounded by Abby's smell would definitely not help his attempt of clearing his head from these confusing thoughts.

His mind was wiped blank anyway when Abby began to dance. The music started slow at first, and her movements were slow and graceful as she waltzed with Clarke. Marcus found himself unable to take his eyes off her. Soon the music started to pick up the pace and the two women whirled hand in hand, giggling. Abby was all tinkling laughter and flaring skirts, and Marcus could only smile at the sight. 

The speed of the dance got eventually too fast for Abby, and the woman yelped as she landed on her bottom. Marcus smiled when the woman burst out laughing on the ground, a beautiful flush apparent on her cheeks. Seeing her so happy and carefree made joy bubble in his chest in a way that nothing else in the world could manage to do. He could honestly continue watching her forever. 

His observation was interrupted by a man clearing his throat just beside him.

"Evening, Skaihefa." he smiled after gaining Marcus' attention. Marcus watched him, puzzled, not recognizing the man who had greeted him in such familiar way. He was a burly, broad-shouldered man, although falling a few inches shorter than Marcus. He had straw-colored hair and beard, and an unpleasant smirk on face. The Broadleaf symbol was embroidered all over his fur-lined cape. 

The man grabbed Marcus' hand and uncovered the sigil beneath his sleeve rather roughly. 

"Yes, I see I am not mistaken. You are him. The man of peace himself," he said, clicking his tongue. 

Marcus pulled his hand away, creasing his brow. "And you are?" 

"Reghan. Nice to meet you," the man said, offering his hand.

In an instant Marcus knew exactly who he was. The only clan whose leader had not attended the peace negotiations was Broadleaf who had sent their ambassador instead. Marcus remembered the ambassador reading notes aloud which grew in aggression by every meeting, having been sent by the nation's prince who had not bothered to attend. After Lexa had offered a stretch of land to be annexed to Broadleaf as a final concession, a letter had been sent with a single-word acknowlegement of the peace, and a multiple paragraph threat of war if the offer of land would be withdrawn. 

The prince's name was Reghan and he was standing just in front of him. Marcus grudgingly shook his hand, forcing a smile on his face. 

"We did not have the pleasure to meet earlier," Reghan said and smiled.

"I'm afraid we did not," Marcus said, feeling slightly relieved about the fact. "But I'm glad that you did make it to the celebration."

Reghan snorted. "I can hardly understand why this feeble treaty is worth celebrating. Sooner or later someone decides to take that bitch of a commander down and we are back where we are supposed to be, fending for ourselves."

If Marcus had not disliked the man earlier, he certainly did now. 

He turned away and took a big gulp of his wine, continuing to watch the dancers. He hoped his cold demeanor would encourage the prince to leave him alone.

"Enjoying the pretty sight of merriment?" Reghan asked.

Marcus's eyes found Abby. 

"Yes," he breathed. 

Reghan followed his gaze to the woman.

"I know, she's a beauty," he drawled. "Is she yours?"

Marcus wrenched his head around. "What?"

"Is she your wife?"

_The same assumption even when they were apart._

"No!"

In hindsight his reply might have been too curt to be given by a leader representing his people during a diplomatic event, but Marcus honestly didn’t care at the moment. One more person mistaking Abby as his wife and he would replace the clan sigil on his arm with the brand "NOT MARRIED TO ABBY GRIFFIN".

Reghan raised his hands in an conciliatory gesture. "I'm sorry. It just looked like that might be the case.”

"How so?" Marcus really wanted to know what possibly made everyone think the same. 

"Well, I noticed you watching her earlier like she was your moon and stars."

Marcus was rendered speechless. Before he could open his mouth to protest, Reghan continued.

"But that was a false interpretation. Now I know better," he said, taking a step back. 

Marcus came to a bitter realization that the prince, as unpleasant of a person he was, was the only one who took his words seriously. 

Before Reghan turned to leave, he shot one last smirk at Marcus. "I normally would not have bothered you, but you looked like a man who would actually give me trouble for taking his wife."

Marcus's blood ran cold. 

His hand landed on Reghan's arm. He tightened his fingers around it, not letting him move an inch away from his firm grip. 

"What do you mean by 'taking'?" 

Reghan's eyes moved from Marcus's hand around his arm to his face. His expression darkened from the offence of Marcus touching him.

"I wouldn't have taken you as a slow man," he said, failing to wriggle his arm free. "I intend to fuck her, if that was not clear."

"I doubt she is looking for company tonight," Marcus grunted. He'd like to say that he knew Abby well enough to know that the woman would rather gnaw her arm off than spend a night with this man. 

Reghan chuckled. "Women are always looking, even if they try to act reluctant. Even if she initially rejects me, she is going to be put into my bed one way or another."

_So he's that sort of a man._

Marcus tightened his grip of Reghan's arm, wondering how much of a diplomatic incident it would cause if he threw the prince to the ground and beat his face to bloody pulp. Lexa would probably be less than joyful. 

Reghan seemed to see from Marcus' expression that his head was about to get bashed in and let out an exasperated groan. "Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. You seem like a decent person. I wouldn't want my men to take you out."

Marcus's eyes found men wearing Broadleaf colors watching them from the sidelines, hands already around the hilts of their swords, ready to draw them out from their sheaths at any given moment. 

Marcus released his clutch and Reghan stumbled a step back. After regaining his footing, he smoothed his shirt and shot Marcus a glare. "I don't understand why you care so much whether I have her or not. She's just a woman."

_Just a woman._

Somehow that managed to make him even angrier than he already was. 

Abby was not just a woman. Abby was _everything_. She was...

The words slipped out of his mouth before he even knew.

"She is my fiancée."

"Your what?" Reghan raised his brow, clearly not recognizing that particular word. 

Marcus had a chance to take it back. 

"Betrothed. She's my betrothed," he heard himself say, even when his mind was screaming that he had no right to call her that.

Reghan's eyes widened. 

To Marcus's great surprise the man opened his mouth in a roaring guffaw. 

"Why didn't you say so immediately?" he laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "What a story to tell, I almost slept with another man's bride just because he couldn't not get his mouth open in time."

Marcus clenched his jaw. It was not surprising that the only way to get the prince to back off was that lie. The prince was clearly of the type of men who valued Marcus' "claim" to Abby over her own judgment on whether to sleep with him or not. 

"Don't look so sour," Reghan said and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "You should be honored that other men lust after your intended, it only proves your luck of ensnaring her."

Marcus rubbed his arm and flashed him a frosty smile. He turned her attention back to Abby as the music came to a close with a soaring last note. 

Abby curtsied to her daughter, eyes still twinkling from laughter. 

She turned her head and met Marcus' gaze. Her mouth curved into a fond little smile. 

Marcus could not help it. He lowered his gaze in an immediate reaction. Something in her expression when she looked at him like that was so soft and tender, that Marcus, feeling undeserving, had formed a reflex to evade seeing it. 

When Marcus lifted his head again he noticed in the corner of his eye Reghan staring at him. The prince's smile had faded away. 

"So how long have you two been betrothed?" he asked, something flashing in his eyes. Marcus said the first thing that came in his mind.

"A couple of months." 

"That's a long time. Why haven't you married her already?"

"There has not been a right time for that yet," he said curtly. 

The prince stared at him through squinted eyes. Marcus realized that he was perhaps not the most convincing husband-to-be. 

"But I will marry her soon, as the war is now over. I long to finally call her my wife," he said and attempted a smile. 

"I believe that," Reghan said, his answering smile a tad wooden. "I hope you forgive me for the misunderstanding."

Without giving Marcus time to answer the prince walked away, leaving Marcus alone to process what had just happened. 

So he had called Abby his betrothed after having spent the whole day frustrated at people for believing they were married. He felt a little bit hypocritical. 

But it was just a little white lie for a good purpose. Reghan would not bother Abby anymore. 

And she never needed to know. 

Abby was walking towards him, a worried expression on her face. Marcus wondered if she had seen the exchange between him and the prince.

He quickly glanced over his shoulder, noticing that Reghan was still watching him from afar. The prince kept sipping his wine and observing them intently, as if their every single movement was of uttermost interest to him. 

_What did he still want with him?_

"I know you are not much of a dancer, but you could at least walk around to keep your blood flowing. The night is getting cool," Abby advised as she reached him. Her words were diminished by the hug she gave herself immediately after when a particularly chilly breeze blew by. Marcus immediately handed his cape back to her.

"No, I won't take it again. It's yours."

Marcus kept his arm stretched out long enough until Abby finally huffed and took the cape from his hand. "But won't you get cold?" 

He waved his hand in nonchalance. After all, Abby had lot less clothing on than he had at the moment, so it was only fair that cape was hers, even though he felt a chill run across his back. But the shiver might have been caused by Reghan's gaze, which was currently burning a hole on the back of his head. Suddenly he was aware of the respectable distance between them, and how this distance might seem suspicious to any observers whom had been lead to believe that they were betrothed.

He took a step forward, maybe an unneccessarily great one since he ended up being closer to her than he would ever have considered appropriate for their relationship, with his face just a couple of inches apart from hers. Abby was left blinking at this invasion of her personal space but Marcus had no time to explain.

"Would you like to dance?" he blurted out.

Abby's mouth dropped just a fraction open. Then her face blossomed into a smile. "This is new," she chuckled.

"Is that a yes?"

Abby responded by grinning and offering her arm. Marcus cast a nervous look at it before carefully hooking his arm around it. 

Marcus should have thought about this more carefully. What did he want to prove to Reghan? The prince seemed like he hadn't believed a word of what Marcus had said, but he couldn't possibly gather any evidence against Marcus' claim based on just his observations of them two and whether they danced together or not. 

But here Marcus was, escorting Abby amongst the dancers, with no way to back out of the action. 

"You know what?" Abby asked as they started to dance, trying their best to keep in the rhythm of the other pairs. The dance was simple enough, but Marcus had difficulties trying to guide Abby to follow his steps when he barely dared to brush her back. "It's actually a bit inconvenient for me that you asked me to dance," she said. 

Marcus could only answer that with a surprised look. His mouth was already forming an apology when Abby quickly continued.

"Now you are making me unavailable for all the handsome men aching to get a dance with me," she said, eyes twinkling.

Marcus smiled. This time Abby seemed to be initiating a dance that was familiar to them both; their ever playful banter. 

"Oh I'm sorry," Marcus said, feigning an offended expression. "Am I not handsome enough for you?" 

Abby shook her head. "No, you are not handsome. You are... Marcus." 

He let out a dramatic sigh and dropped her hand. "I'll just leave then."

"Marcus!" Abby laughed when he started slowly marching off. She tugged at his sleeve, coaxing him to turn around again which he did with a cheeky smile on his face. 

"I would rather have you stay," she yielded.

"Of course," Marcus grinned. "But I'm afraid you are never going to get rid of me now."

"I wouldn't mind that." Abby lifted her beautiful eyes at him, making the collar of Marcus's jacket suddenly uncomfortably tight. 

Marcus shook off the odd feeling, and tried to continue their jesting as if nothing had happened. 

"Then I shall never leave."

"Good. All joking aside, you're the only the person I want to dance with." 

A smile started to creep across Marcus' face. Maybe the night wouldn't be so bad after all.

They stopped caring about the steps and the others glaring at them for not keeping the pace. Instead they just made up their own dance as they went and Marcus found the courage to grab onto her back. They stomped on each other's feet without bothering to apologize and just laughed as they bumped into other dancers. Whenever Abby's feet seemed too solidly planted on the ground Marcus just twirled her around, causing Abby release a girlish giggle. He forgot everything else, Reghan, the assumptions, the flower in her ring. All he could think about was her beautiful little laughter, which made something warm and pleasant erupt in his chest. 

He realized he would not rather be anywhere else than here, dancing with Abby and trying to make her do that lovely sound, and he could not for the life of him understand why he had not asked her sooner. 

The reason became very apparent when the music slowed down. They both froze. 

Marcus should have instinctively released her and suggested that they'd do something else but he found himself unable to do so. Instead he just gulped and stood still. Abby's eyes travelled from Marcus' hand that was still stiffly holding onto her back to the nervous expression on his face. Her lashes fluttered shut. With a shy smile on her face she grabbed Marcus hand, guiding it lower until it rested on her waist. 

Marcus found himself suddenly in a very dangerous territory. He could feel the warmth of Abby's skin through the sheer fabric of the dress, making his fingertips tingle. He had the urge to pull his hand away but at the same he wanted to press his palm firmer against her waist. 

They started to gently sway to the music, and soon enough Marcus realized that there was nothing to fear and that it was actually quite pleasant to have Abby in his arms. But then she let out a content sigh and lowered her head on his chest, causing Marcus’ whole body to tense.

But thankfully, the music halted at the same second. 

"May I have your attention?" A voice boomed.

Marcus snatched his hands away and staggered backwards, feeling grateful of the interruption. He could kiss the man whose voice that had been. 

He looked up and saw that his savior was none other than prince himself who had stumbled up to the stage, musicians giving him way with annoyed looks on their faces. Marcus took his words back.

"Oh no, not that man," Abby sighed.

Marcus whipped his head around. "Do you know him?"

"I'm glad I don't. Earlier in the evening when you were talking with Roan he was staring at me. I could feel his eyes crawling across my skin. Made my whole body shudder."

Marcus' expression darkened. Reghan had apparently had his eye on her for a while. 

After gaining everybody's attention Reghan continued: "It has been a great night, hasn't it? As the prince of Yujleda, the most eager supporter of the peace, it has been my great pleasure to provide this joy for all the clans."

Abby snorted. "This celebration is hosted by Lexa and it wouldn't be even possible without you. This man has his ego through the roof." 

"He also has a good dash of condescension and misogyny," Marcus grunted.

Abby turned her head, smiling. "What a scathing judgment based on one impression."

"Oh, I had the unfortune of meeting him earlier. He said things that made me consider snapping his neck."

"Marcus Kane losing his temper. I'd like to see that."

Reghan kept going. "And it surely has been a joy to all of us to witness the merry ladies who have blessed us with their enticing dancing." 

Abby creased her brow. "Good god, he is slimy. I'm glad he hasn't tried anything with me except gape."

"He won't ever bother you, that much I can I promise," Marcus said and directed his stern gaze at the prince. 

Reghan put on a sorrowful expression. "But alas, not everyone I've encountered has been merry. One man I talked to was looking rather downcast. "

"I suppose he has that effect on people," Abby quipped and Marcus let out a tiny laugh. They earned a mean glare from the couple next to them.

"The reason for the man's sorrow was love," Reghan explained and earned a few sympathetic sighs from the crowd. 

The smile faded from Marcus' face. 

"He had been engaged for months, _for months_ , with his beloved without having been able to marry her because of the war. I could see the longing in his eyes, and it made my heart ache."

Abby rolled her eyes, while Marcus tried to desperately convince himself that Reghan was not talking about him.

"So I thought, what could the great prince Reghan do for this poor man?" he continued, grinning as the crowd around him started growing more enthusiastic about the story. 

"Now he is talking about himself in third person," Abby chuckled. Marcus did not answer. He had frozen in his place to stare at the prince in wide-eyed horror. He was slowly realizing what Reghan was doing. 

"So I thought and thought," Reghan said and scrunched his forehead, feigning great contemplation. "And finally I got it. I was going to kill two birds with one stone. I would not let the celebration end here, oh no. I decided to throw him the biggest, the most generous, the most memorable..."

He paused. His gaze swept over the people who were impantiently waiting for him to finish the sentence. Marcus could feel a cold shiver run down his back as his eyes met Reghan's. The man stopped to flash him a wicked grin. 

Marcus needed to get out. Now. 

"Wedding!" Reghan roared. 

He was answered with a deafening cheer. 

"Wedding?" Abby snorted. "That's somehow even worse than what I expected. I feel sorry for the fellow." She turned her eyes on Marcus, a worried expression growing on her face. "Is everything alright? You look awfully pale."

Marcus grabbed Abby's hand. "We should go."

Abby looked at the hand, surprised at the unusual physical contact. 

"I'll explain later." Marcus huffed. "But we need to go."

He started dragging her after him, weaving his way through the crowd to the best of his ability. 

"Marcus, what the hell are you—" Abby sputtered.

"Skaihefa!" Reghan's voice soared, halting the two dead in their track. 

"The lucky man himself," the prince declared, pointing at him. Marcus could see every single pair of eyes turning to him and Abby. "Just look at his bride and tell me I'm wrong."


	2. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus faces the consequences of his actions. Lexa takes up a challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments and kudos! I'm glad others are enjoying this silly little story too.

_Well, this was amusing._

Everyone was gaping at her and Marcus. The prince was grinning, gesturing them to join him on the stage, not realizing what an embarrassing mistake he had just made. Abby didn’t particularly like the prince, so being to one to inform him that he had them confused with another pair, or even better, had completely misunderstood her and Marcus’ relationship to an humiliating extent, would give her great pleasure. 

So Abby let out a snort and for a while that was the only sound in the dead silent crowd, until everyone was shaken out of their stupor by erupting in exclamations of happiness.

"Congratulations!"

"I am so happy for you."

"Finally!"

"I thought they were already married."

"Me too."

"Such a cute couple."

"Get to the stage!"

Abby's smile vanished.

No, it wasn't supposed to go like this. They were supposed to laugh with her, not smile and shower her with heartfelt felicitations. 

She looked around for her daughter and the rest of the delinquents. They at least would understand that this was just a mistake. First, she saw Octavia whose mouth formed a round "O", and standing next to her was Lincoln who didn't even have a trace of surprise in his expression. Clarke was found near the couple, looking like she was choking on her drink while Bellamy kept slapping her on the back. Murphy and Emori were following the scene, looking thoroughly entertained while Harper was glowing with joy and jumping up and down from excitement. Monty kept mouthing something that sounded awfully lot like "I knew it." Raven was standing by him, smirking and... did Abby just see her discreetly receive something small from sulking Jasper? 

Shaking her head at their reaction, she tries to gesture them that this was all just a big misunderstanding, but she’s steadily ignored as the teenagers gathered together and started to whisper is hushed tones while some gave a still red-faced Clarke some reassuring pats on the arm. 

_Why were they taking this seriously?_

Abby turned to Marcus, who was not looking amused in the slightest. If he had looked pale before, he looked absolutely ghostly now, and Abby had to suppress the urge to reach out and check his temperature by feeling his forehead. 

Some bystander gave him a forceful pat on the back, causing him to finally release the tight grip he had on Abby's hand. He seemed to wake from some sort of a trance, and the grim, determined expression he used to have in council meetings settled on his face.

"Marcus, what is going on?" 

"Stay here. I'm going to take care of this." 

Marcus turned to march to the stage, but there wasn't a need for that anymore. The prince had leaped down and was now approaching them, rubbing his hands together with a wild gleam in his eyes. Marcus looked like he'd welcome the sight of a stampede of horses with more enthusiasm. 

Reghan stopped in front of them. "What do you think?" He asked with a wide grin plastered on his face. 

"I don't know what to say," Marcus breathed.

Abby furrowed her brow. Why didn't he just explain the situation? "I believe there has been a mis—"

Her mouth clamped shut when she felt Marcus' arm snake around her waist. 

Abby was beyond confused. The man was usually terrified of any type of physical contact with her, but tonight he had not only asked her to dance, but he also grabbed her hand and now he had his arm on the small of her back. He was either actually ill or been recruited into some elaborate prank set up by the delinquents. 

His fingers were burning on her skin, and Abby felt a shiver travel across her spine when he started to caress her back with gentle little circles. Marcus shot her a look. 

 _Play along_ , it seemed to say. 

"You did say you hadn't find the right time, and what better time is there than the present, especially since it’s the first day of peace?" Reghan remarked.

_Wait, what had Marcus said to him?_

"I think I need to discuss this with Heda first," Marcus hurriedly said, his gaze searching for Lexa who was somewhere in the crowd.

Abby found her first, and as their eyes met, Lexa smiled before raising her glass in a celebratory gesture. 

_Not you too._

"Of course. You can tell her that I'd take care of all the expenses. You two would only need to relax and if everything goes smoothly, I could have the whole thing sorted out in a day. Then you could get married as soon as the day after tomorrow!" 

Marcus had on a expression that resembled more of a grimace than a smile. "This is too much, we couldn't possibly allow you to do this." 

"Nonsense! I'll have you two lovebirds married, and it would be unwise for anyone to try to stop me when I've made up my mind." 

_That sounded vaguely like a threat._

The two men in front of Abby were not even trying to pretend to mask the disdain they felt for each other. They glared at each other, with their jaws set and their mouths twisted in a ugly twist of a smile. Abby was starting to think she had become a part of some sort of a twisted game between these two men, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Let's just wait until Heda has had her word," Marcus said with a cool voice.

"Let's do that. But I doubt she has anything against the matter."

Suddenly Abby's hand was grabbed. The prince laid a wet kiss on her knuckles and smiled at her. "You are going to be an exquisite bride."

After saying that the prince turned to leave, probably a wise move on his part since Marcus looked ready to grab him by the throat. Abby wiped the saliva from her hand to the cape. 

The minute Reghan was out of sight, Marcus dropped his hand from her back as if it had been burned. Abby turned towards him, her brow drawn together in an angry knot.

"What the hell just happened?"

Marcus’ gaze shifted nervously, the people around them were starting to give them strange looks. "Let's not do this here."

"Why not?"

"Please just — let's go somewhere more private."

Marcus looked nervous, and Abby had to admit it was making her a little bit uneasy too. So she gave him a small nod before they both started to move away.

Their walk was brief but filled with tense silence until they reached one of the houses which were being used as a warming place for the guests, as it had two big fireplaces inside. When they walked in, there were only two men chatting and trying warm themselves up, but they quickly decided to go back out after seeing the fiery look in Abby's eyes. After the door clacked shut behind them, she turned to Marcus, her arms crossed. 

"Explain."

"Abby", Marcus exhaled as a familiar expression spread across his face. The sorrowful, guilt-ridden one that appeared every time he knew he had done something that hurt her or when they talked about their time on the Ark. The expression always made her heart soften and her anger diminish. But not this time. Marcus owed her a proper explanation for this circus.

"Explain," she repeated, more sharply this time. 

Marcus lowered his gaze to his feet. "I have made a mistake."

"You don’t say. Somehow you have given that jackass of a prince the impression that we’re engaged. What I’!d like to know from you is how you managed to do that. And why.” 

"Why doesn't matter at the moment."

"How can it not matter?"

"We need to focus on getting Reghan to stop whatever he is planning. I need to find Lexa."

"You're not leaving before I’ve received a proper explanation..,"

Before Marcus could even open his mouth, someone barged in through the door. Raven stumbled in, a big smile spreading on her face as she noticed them. 

"So this where you two sneaked off to!"

"Thank god they are not making out," Monty said after popping his head around the door.

"Come in, everybody! They're in here," Raven called out.

Before Abby could protest every single delinquent seemed to march in, all just as eager to offer their well wishes. 

"Before you say anything, I want to clarify that Abby and I are not actually engaged," Marcus tried after seeing the wild crowd. His words fell to deaf ears. Everyone was chattering and bickering about who gets to approach them first. 

Murphy took the lead. He walked towards them, clicking his tongue. "So you finally popped the question. I thought I would never see the day. Well done, old man." He tapped Marcus on the shoulder and turned to shake Abby's hand. "Congrats."

"As I said, we are not—" Marcus tried.

"Congratulations!" Emori's voice was so full of sincere joy Abby saw the words of denial die on Marcus's lips. 

Clarke was the next in line. Arms crossed, a deep furrow creased on her forehead she came to Abby. "Something you forgot to tell your own daughter?" 

Abby did not to know how to tell that she had been just as in the dark about this betrothal as Clarke. 

Lexa arrived in her girlfriend's wake.

"Congratulations." She gave them a courteous nod and turned to Clarke. "We'll have to go unpack our luggage since we are going to be staying for yet another day." Her tone of voice revealed exactly how she felt about the fact.

"Am I the only one glad that Kane decided to propose just now? I have never been to a grounder wedding before," Monty said.

"For the last time, me and Abby are not engaged!" Marcus snapped. 

The room grew silent. The teenagers exchanged confused looks.

"But the prince said—"

"Well, the prince had it wrong," he stammered.

Lexa raised her voice."Prince Reghan may be the human equivalent of the horse shit stuck on the bottom of your boots but he is not foolish enough to make to make this sort of announcement if he was not absolutely sure, nor is he depraved enough to spin these sort of stories just for his own amusement. So care to tell me why he so strongly believes that you two are engaged?"

Marcus seemed to be failing at offering an answer, only a faint wheeze being able to escape his throat.

"I may have given him the impression that Abby and I are — betrothed." He eventually managed to choke out.

"I'm not sure how it's to possible do such a thing unintentionally."

"I know what happened!" Harper piped up. "Kane had probably been talking about his plans to propose Abby, but mixed up the past and future tense."

Abby watched Marcus' jaw stiffening, and suddenly she felt her heart take a leap.

For one senseless second Abby thought that something like that happened. Marcus could have given the prince an impression that he wanted her as his wife someday. The thought made Abby's throat suddenly dry. 

 _No, of course not,_ she internally scoffed at herself. Why would Marcus even hypothetically talk about marrying her to strangers? That would only happen if he’d lost his mind. 

Abby must be losing hers too, since her brain had jumped immediately to that conclusion. She felt embarrassed for having even thought about that possibility, heat creeping up her neck. 

Marcus sighed. "That is not true, but the point is that I need your help. As you heard, the prince is throwing us a wedding."

Lexa arched her eyebrow. "Is that a problem to you?"

"Of course it is!" Abby snapped. 

"Why would we even want to get married?" Marcus joined in. 

Lexa's carefully trained facial expressions usually didn't betray any emotions, but this time Abby could actually see confusion consuming her face.

"I am sorry. I thought you two were—"

"No!" They yelled in unison.

"Well that does complicate things," Lexa muttered. 

"Kane!" Everybody looked up, and saw none other than Indra towering by the door. She started taking big leaps towards Marcus, smiling an overjoyed, gummy smile.

Marcus took a step back, a terrified look on his face. "Indra, just that you know, Abby and I are not—"

Indra had already captured Kane in a suffocating bear hug. "Finally!" She laughed. "I thought I'd have to drag you two in front of a officiator myself. It was getting ridiculous." 

Marcus tried to free himself in vain. Lexa saw his distress and the corner of her mouth twitched just a hint.

"Let the poor man go, Indra. There's been a mistake, he has not actually proposed to Abby."

Indra turned around, Marcus still wriggling in her arms, a puzzled look on her face. "That's not what the prince said."

"Apparently he has misunderstood—"

"No, I talked to him," Indra said. "It's not possible that there's been a misunderstanding." 

Lexa walked to her. "Tell me exactly what the prince told you."

Marcus finally managed to disentangle himself from Indra's hold. "Can't we just concentrate on getting Reghan to call the wedding off?" he pleaded.

Abby tensed. Marcus seemed to be hiding something, and it made her upset. She'd like to think they were at a stage where they wouldn't keep secrets from one another.

Indra pulled Lexa farther from the others, and started whispering with her heatedly. Finally Lexa turned around, looking angrier than Abby had ever seen the woman.

"It seems that Kane has seriously mislead the prince." 

"But it just a misunderstanding. It's probably not anything we cannot clear up," Abby offered quickly. 

Lexa glared at Marcus. "Your Chancellor said, verbatim, that you were his betrothed. Such a blatant lie is hard to call a misunderstanding."

Abby wasn't sure if she had heard her correctly. Marcus wouldn't do something like that. He sometimes felt too timid to even call her his friend, so announcing their engagement was the last think he'd do on purpose. But as Abby takes another look at him and notices the guilty expression on his face, she’s not as sure anymore. 

"Marcus, is that true?" she asked.

His face twisted in anguish. 

"Marcus!" 

"I had a good reason for the lie," was his only answer. 

Lexa looked like she had aged ten years in just a few seconds. She was rubbing her temples, her mouth in a tired frown. "Let me know if I understood correctly. You lied to the most aggressive, easily provoked leader of all the clans."

"I'm aware of his reputation."

Her head shot up. "Did he seem to believe you?"

"Not really," Marcus said quietly. 

A heavy silence.

"This is going to start a war," Lexa sighed. 

Clarke laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It can't be that bad." 

"I know Reghan. He knows that he has more men than rest of the clans, and he is always looking for a reason to pick a fight. I am sure that he is at this moment drinking and laughing with his men, waiting patiently for Kane to run to him with his tail between his legs to admit his lie, so he has an excuse to drive his sword through his chest."

Abby dashed to her. "You can't let that happen."

"I'm trying not to, although I'm very tempted to let it happen since your Chancellor risked the whole treaty because he was jealous."

"Jealous?" 

"Isn't it obvious what happened?" Lexa hissed, turning to glare at Marcus. "Another man gives attention to the woman you adore, and you feel threatened. That's the reason for your little lie, isn't it?"

"That's precisely not the reason!" Marcus said, his face reddening from anger. 

Lexa just scoffed at him and turned to Indra. 

"Go see what Reghan is doing and what kind of mood he is in. Report back to me." 

Before Indra left, she threw Marcus a disappointed look which turned his face ashen. 

Abby wasn't sure what to think anymore. She just wanted to sit down and talk this through with Marcus, but that was impossible as long as everybody kept talking at the same time, offering their own speculations of what had happened and not giving Marcus a chance to explain himself. 

Lexa turned to him again."If you _had to_ lie, why didn't you just say that she was your wife? I don't understand how that wouldn't have been easier to believe."

"Why would it have been easier to believe? I'm dying to know why absolutely everyone seems to assume that Abby and I are married!” he snapped. 

Abby could only remember one instance when that had happened. The mother of the little child had called her his wife, and Abby had felt dizzy at the exclamation, so much so that she had to hide her bewilderment by laughing.

If the man had such a strong reaction to one mistake, he must really hate even the idea of being associated with her in that way. Marcus being so obviously against the notion of them being married struck her with a cold realization. In her mind she saw a vision of what might have happened. "She is my betrothed," could have been uttered sarcastically. Perhaps it was a payback for laughing at him, a cruel joke on her expense. 

The second possibility was that Marcus had been jealous and lied to fend Reghan off. Abby was not sure which she'd prefer to have happened. Both options seemed so unlike Marcus. She didn't even want to look at him, she felt so sad and angry. 

Lexa took one look at Abby. "It's not much of a mystery why people made that mistake. You had her draped in your clothing for the entirety of the feast.”

It was only then that Abby noticed that she was still clad in the ambassador’s cape. Unfastening the clasp, she let it fall to the ground with her cheeks burning. She turned her back at the others, trying to hide the prickling behind her eyes. 

The evening had been so wonderful. Marcus had treated her so kindly, laughed with her, asked her to dance. Abby had thought... 

She didn't know what she had thought. 

She clenched her hand into a fist, feeling the flower in her ring shrivel.

* * *

 

Marcus crouched down to pick up the cape from the floor while casting a sad look at Abby, who had her back turned at them. She was undoubtedly angry, and she had every right to be. If only Marcus had the change to explain to her why he had done this, why he had lied, then she would hopefully understand.

Everyone was quietly waiting for Indra to return, the atmosphere in the room too tense for carefree conversation. After being lost in her thoughts, Lexa opened her mouth again.

"I may be able to stop this. It has barely been an hour, Reghan can't possibly have started the preparations already."

"How are you going to do that?" Clarke asked.

"I'll just say that it was my intention to throw those two a wedding back at Polis. Reghan will probably demand to be invited, but we can always take our time with the preparations and at the very last minute say that Kane has ran off with a camp follower and the wedding has been called off."

"Quick thinking," Clarke smiled.

Lexa gave her girlfriend a peck on the lips. "I try my best."

"I would never do something like that to Abby," Marcus sputtered.

"Nor are you actually betrothed to Abby. If you don't want to run off with a camp follower, next time you think before you lie."

Just as Lexa finished the sentence, they heard someone enter. Indra stormed in, her usual somber expression hardened to even more serious one.

Lexa turned to her. "Situation report, please."

"Reghan has picked out the material and seamstresses have already started working on the wedding gown. At this pace everything should be ready for tomorrow, exactly as he promised," Indra told.

Lexa pinched her eyes shut.

"This is bad. This is very, very bad." She let out a long sigh that started resembling more of a hiss as it went on. 

She turned to Marcus and Abby.

"I can see no other solution for this. The day after tomorrow, you two are going to be standing in front of the officiator like a couple in love, let yourselves be wedded, and enjoy the feast the Prince so generously provides."

"You have to be kidding me," Marcus hissed through gritted teeth.

"You can't honestly force them to do that," Clarke said. 

Marcus took a look at Abby. The woman had not moved an inch from the place she was staring at the wall, but her shoulders were hunched. 

"It's a feasible plan. One night of acting and it would done. I would naturally arrange them an annulment afterwards."

"Does this mean I have to actually get them a present or...?" Jasper asked. 

"It's a fake wedding, so you can give them a fake present. It could be a pine cone and they'd have to pretend to be delighted anyway," Monty answered.

"I can't believe this actually happening," Octavia said, shaking her head.

"It's a fuck-up of a whole new level," Murphy chuckled, the hand that was clamped over his mouth failing to stifle his laughter. 

"That's it. Everyone out except for me, the Chancellor and Abby!" Lexa roared. 

Indra ushered the reluctant group of delinquents out, their retreat accompanied with loud groans of disappointment. Clarke threw one last hurt look at Lexa for not allowing her to stay, and marched off, tossing her head.

When they were left alone, Marcus immediately faced Lexa. "We are not going to do this." 

"Kane, you are an intelligent man. You have to understand that you don't really have a choice on the matter. It's either one day of pretending, or a bloodbath."

"No, not happening," Marcus barked. 

"You are free to go and get speared by Reghan then," Lexa barked right back. "I'll tell Indra to prepare my men for the war."

"We'll do it."

Marcus and Lexa's heads shot up at Abby's faint voice.

She continued, voice slightly trembling from emotion. "If it's the only way to avoid a conflict, of course we are going to do it."

"It's agreed then," Lexa said, pleased. "I'm glad you understand that this is our only nonviolent option."

"But—" Marcus tried. 

"Or do you have other ideas?" Abby snapped. 

Lexa looked back between Marcus and Abby. 

"I'm going to let you sort it out by yourselves," she said. "But be quick. I'm going to need you two in full consensus when we go to Reghan."

Before Marcus had the time to plead her not to leave them alone, she was already gone.

After gaining enough courage he slowly turned around to face Abby. Even though Marcus couldn't see her face, he knew she was seething with rage. Her hands were clenched into fists by her sides, her whole body shaking with anger.

Marcus gulped. Maybe he should just leave her be for a moment and come back when she had calmed down.

But before he could swiftly retreat Abby turned around. But her eyes were not blazing with fury as Marcus had anticipated. Instead her gaze was so cold it sent a chill to his very core.

"I really, really hope," she said, drawing out every word to a terrifying length, "that you had a good reason for this."

"I actually did have a very good reason."

Now Abby was right in front of him, jabbing a shaking finger to his chest.

"There's nothing in the whole world that would give you the right—"

Abby clamped her mouth to a thin line. Her lower lip started quivering, her expression changing from furious to crushed.

"I can't believe this. From you of all people."

Marcus's chest constricted painfully. She turned her head, refusing to even look at him.

"Is this some sort of a sick payback for laughing at you earlier? Have you just been approaching random people and joking that I am your betrothed?"

Marcus tried to say something, anything, but the words stuck to his throat.

"Well, I hope you got a good laugh out of it, because now were are in this god-awful mess," she said, voice breaking by the end of the sentence.

She let out a sob which she tried to hide with an angry huff immediately after.

"Abby," Marcus whispered and tried to reach out to her. He could take her anger but he could not bear to see her cry.

Abby shoved his hand off.

"Don't. Just don't."

Abby turned to walk out from him but Marcus dashed in front of her, preventing her from leaving by blocking the way. 

"You are right. It was wrong for me to do that. But I did it anyway."

Abby glared at him. "It's like you want me to hate you."

Marcus drew in a deep breath. It was time for the explanation. "Reghan approached me when you were dancing with Clarke. He had been targeting you all night, and wanted to know if you were taken before he took you to his bed."

"I don't understand how this gave you the right call me your betrothed." 

"He was going to force you even if you said no!" 

"So the only way to make him back him off was to claim me as your property?" Abby said with a cold voice. 

"No, that's not..."

"Did you ever consider that I might have wanted to handle Reghan on my own? Or did you feel that you were just better at making my decisions for me?"

This was not going as Marcus had hoped. 

"I just wanted to protect you," he tried.

"Protect me..." Abby scoffed. _"Men."_

She pushed him out of her way. "I need some air," she said, wrenching the door open. 

"Abby!" Marcus called out.

But she was already gone.

Marcus was left blinking at the door, feeling shame consume his whole body. He snapped his eyes shut. When he reviewed their conversation through Abby's eyes, he started to understand what an utter idiot he had been. He wanted to kick himself. In the situation it had seemed perfectly acceptable to lie for Abby, but he had not thought how she'd feel about him making that decision for her. She should feel angry at him, he was at angry at himself too. 

"What are you waiting for? Run after her!" said a voice coming from the gap between the door. It was followed by a sound of a smack and a muttered "ouch". 

Marcus drew his brow together. As he pulled to door open, he saw Raven, Jasper, Monty and Harper all pressed against the wall with identical nervous smiles. 

"Have you been eavesdropping this whole time?" 

The question was strategically left unanswered.

"She is super mad," Jasper pointed out.

"I'm aware," Marcus retorted.

"She ran to the garden," Raven said and pointed at the direction of the entrance. The village hosting the celebration was renowned for its lavish garden which served as a great refuge for people tired of the noises of celebration, and apparently also as a hiding place for upset women. "Go and beg for her forgiveness. It's going to be awkward at the wedding if you two have not made up." 

Marcus did not need a reminder of what they had ahead of them. He sighed. "I'll go to her."

"You got this!" Monty yelled after him. 

Abby could not have gotten very far, especially not in this maze of a garden with such narrow pathways. The dress she had on had probably not been designed for angry storm-outs in such places, the sharp branches sticking out from the bushes would tear it if she didn't move slow enough. 

He found Abby quite quickly. She was around the next corner, cursing under her breath, trying to pull the hem of her dress free of the branches it had got entangled in.

"Do you need some help?"

Abby shot him a glare. She turned him a cold shoulder, resuming to tug at the fabric. But the hem did not yield.

Marcus knelt in front of her and grasped the sheer material. With slow movements, he started to disentangle the fabric from the branches. Abby didn't tell him to stop or go away, just watched him with her heavy gaze, so he continued.

"I am sorry," he murmured.

Abby didn't answer.

"I understand why you are angry now. I took away your agency, made it seem like I was more capable of making the decision for you than yourself. It should've been your right to reject him." 

Marcus sighed.

"It was not my intention to be overbearing." 

When Abby remained silent, he continued. 

"I regret lying that you were my betrothed." 

Marcus paused. 

"What I should've done was punch him in the face."

Abby let out a tiny, involuntary chuckle. Marcus immediately lifted his head, searching for signs of forgiveness in her eyes, a slight smile tugging at his lips. 

She pursed her lips, trying to force a scowl back on her face. "Don't do that thing with your face," she groaned.

"What thing?"

"How am I supposed to stay mad at you when you look so damn hopeful? Like sunbeams are about to shoot from your eyes."

Marcus was not sure which look she was talking about but he tried his hardest to recreate it. Abby's features softened, until she eventually shook her head, relenting. 

"Alright, alright. I forgive you, you sweet idiot."

Marcus smiled. He had successfully resolved things with Abby, and that made him glad. He wouldn't know what to do without her by his side. But he didn't get to be relieved for too long before he remembered that Abby's anger had not been his only problem.

_The wedding._

Abby seemed to be hit by the same thought.

"Oh god, we are actually going to have to get married, don't we?" She said, her face turning slightly pale at the thought.

"I'm afraid so." Marcus gulped. "Sorry about that too."

"It's okay. We have survived worse."

"What's worse than having to pretend to want to marry me?" 

Abby laughed. "You're not so bad, Marcus. There's plenty of reasons why someone would want to—"

She stopped to clear her throat. "Anyway, it's only for one day."

"We can do it. For the peace."

"For the peace," Abby repeated. "Technically, we only need to say a couple of silly vows and eat cake. It may be even fun"

"Yes, this could be something we'll look back at and laugh," he chuckled, still fumbling with the fabric. The branches seemed to be finally releasing their hold. He shifted his weight on one knee and concentrated on pulling the hem free. 

When he finally succeeded, Marcus looked up, a smiling, only to meet Abby's startled eyes and flushed cheeks.

Slowly he became aware that he was, indeed, kneeling in front of her on one knee. He released her hem and staggered up to his feet with the speed of a lightning. 

"Or we could just never talk about this again after the annulment," he said, after having backed a reasonable distance away from Abby, his face aflame.

"Deal."

* * *

Lexa had been staring continuously at the garden entrance, waiting for Kane and Abby emerge, ideally smiling and hand in hand. She couldn't help but feel a little bit stressed by the outcome of their discussion, since the whole treaty depended on them looking like an infatuated couple, and not like the quarrelsome pair they had looked like the last time she had seen them. 

And she certainly didn't have anything better to do than stand here, hoping for the best. Clarke was still mad at her for making her mother marry the Chancellor so she was not exactly welcomed to their shared chamber. Lexa had thought that solving the matter peacefully instead of trying to take down Reghan would bring her some extra points in her girlfriend's eyes, but apparently not. 

"Greetings, Heda."

Lexa turned around, startled. Reghan had crept to her side without a noise, as usual. He had one of his smug smirks on, making his already galling features even harder to look at. "I'm sorry. Did I give you a scare?"

"No, not all." Lexa nodded her acknowledgement. "Prince."

Lexa and Prince Reghan had a full-understood mutual hatred for each other they didn't even bother to hide. Reghan didn't have an ounce of respect for her Commander status, and Lexa considered a brick more fit as a clan leader than him. This had resulted in many armed conflicts between Broadleaf and nations on her side over the years, but unfortunately she hadn't had a chance to crush the prince like a little cockroach he was before the arrival of the Sky People. 

Reghan edged closer until his shoulder bumped into hers. Lexa closed her eyes, gathering all of her self control not to knock him down. She had ordered men to be castrated for less. 

"Did Skaihefa tell you the happy news?" He said, joining to watch the entrance just as intently as Lexa, with an interested gleam in his eyes. 

Reghan was definitely treating this as his own little game. He was probably counting the seconds until Kane would back down. A small part of Lexa hoped that he would, so she and Reghan could finally have their duel-to-the-death right here, but in the bigger picture peace was more important than the fantasy of her hovering over Reghan's cold body.

"Yes he did. And he seemed excited for the wedding." Lexa flashed him a smile that communicated a whole other meaning. 

_I know what you are doing. And I'm not going to let it stand._

"Excited, but maybe a little bit nervous too," Reghan said. 

_He's full of shit and I know it. Prepare._

"I'm sure that will pass. His face is going to be radiant from joy when we see him again."

_Prepare for what? You are the one who is going to lose._

"Love is a wonderful thing." Reghan sighed.

_Skaihefa is dead. Everyone helping him is dead. Including you._

"Yes it is."

_Don't be too sure of yourself. It'll end up embarrassing you in the end._

They fell silent. Reghan's eye twitched. He seemed a little bit shaken in his resolve now that he knew that Lexa was on Kane's side, he had probably expected this to be a lot easier. But she knew that he would rather die than ever give up. He was too proud. 

Lexa would enjoy beating Reghan at his own game. She was positive that Kane was in love with Clarke's mother. Nobody with only friendly feelings looked at each other like that. Pretending would be as easy as breathing for them, and the wedding would be as believable as a real one. Lexa was not sure if they were even going to need an annulment.

"Here they come," Reghan said and nodded at the direction of the garden entrance. 

Kane and Abby stumbled into view, clearly flustered. It seemed that they had finally come to an agreement, but not without difficulties. Reghan could not have picked a better time to let his suspicious gaze sweep over them. 

Abby noticed their observers and whispered something quickly to Kane, making him look even more disoriented. She tried to entwine her fingers with his. It would have looked natural if Kane did not look at her hand like it was an exotic beast grazing his skin. Lexa kept her smile firmly fixed on her face but she could feel beads of sweat gathering on her forehead. She prayed the two would stop looking like a pair of younglings on their first romantic outing together and stick to the plan.

"Skaihefa! Reghan called out, a wicked smile starting to spread over his face. 

Kane and Abby approached them, and to Lexa's relief, they gained confidence by every step. When they were finally in front of them they mostly resembled an actual couple, and only a little bit like two people in the most uncomfortable situation in their whole lives. 

"So?" The prince smiled.

"We have talked about it, and we are going to accept your offer," Kane said. 

"We are most grateful," Abby added. 

Reghan slapped his hands together, a broad grin on his face. "Splendid! Looks like we'll have a wedding to celebrate in two days." 

Abby's smile couldn't have been any more forced even if she had a sword pointed at her neck, while Kane just looked nauseous. Lexa was starting to seriously doubt their ability to pull this off. Maybe she had bitten off more than she could chew after all. 

Kane flinched, and it didn't take a genius to deduce that Abby had just pinched him in the arm.

"We can't wait," he said and attempted a smile. 

Abby rose on her toes to give the man a kiss on the cheek and Lexa experienced her first time of seeing a grown man flush pink from a woman's touch.

_Dear god._

Lexa couldn't do this. It was like watching a slaughter in slow motion. 

And Reghan was enjoying every second of it.

"It's been a long day," Lexa said quickly. "Why don't you two retire to your beds and let me and the prince go over the arrangements." She shot Kane a look. 

_I need you out of here before you make this any worse._

"Beds?" Reghan repeated with a seemingly innocent questioning pitch.

"We'll be sleeping in different beds before the ceremony, as is the custom." Kane quickly saved. He hesitated for a moment and then added, "Although the nights will be long without Abby's warmth by my side."

Now it was turn for Abby's cheeks to switch shades. 

Lexa swallowed back a deep sigh, possibly the deepest one that had ever been building up inside her. 

_The peace was nice while it had lasted._


	3. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus and Abby are prepared for the wedding.

Marcus really wished he could see Abby. 

The last time he had caught a glimpse of her was when she had been ushered back in her room by a swarm of maids when she had tried to talk to him. Marcus had been curtly informed that the bride needed to be prepared for the wedding and didn't need any distractions.

So instead of being with Abby and talking about how they were going to do this, he was sitting in his room, listening to Lexa as she barked him instructions with an occasional moan about his idiotic lie thrown into the mix. Nevertheless, his mind kept on wandering off to Abby and how she was doing. They had left last night on an awkward note, they barely exchanged two words before they had escaped to their rooms, both completely flustered. Marcus had spent a sleepless night thinking about the ordeal in front of them. If it had already been so hard to casually touch each other last night, what would a wedding be like?

Marcus was woken from his reverie to notice that Lexa had moved on to grumble about the fact that she had been made responsible for organizing the wedding. 

"Of course Reghan is not going to lift a finger. You would expect that he'd do at least something for his own scheme, but no, he is just lying in his room and drinking wine, waiting for me to do his job." 

Lexa stopped to give Kane a stern look. "Do I look like a wedding planner?"

Marcus shook his head at her vigorously.

"I doubt you understand how hard it is to arrange a ceremony with features from every single clan. Like it or not, your wedding has become a symbol of the peace. If I don't include everyone I might as well spit in the faces of the clan leaders."

"I do understand."

Marcus's words fell on deaf ears as she kept pacing.

"This means the gown is Yujleda-made, the priestess is going to be from Louwoda Kliron, you can thank Azgeda for your tailor, and I had to mix both, you heard correctly, both Boudalan and Ouskejon joining rituals together to create something coherent, and don't even get me started on the flowers from for Abby's hair, they are going to have to be transported all the way from Ingrankrona—"

"Flowers for her hair?" Marcus asked, surprising himself with the hoarseness of his voice.

"Yes, some sort of a special rose breed. I had to pick that one over Delphi lilies, almost causing a war between both clans, but it was wiser than favoring the Azgeda option which would have started a massacre. I swear this whole thing is driving me..." Lexa's voice faded away.

_Abby is going to have roses in her hair._

Marcus pictured the lovely sight in his mind and his throat turned dry at the though.

_Focus._

He shifted his full attention to Lexa. "Is there anything I could do to reduce your workload?

"There are a few things you could do. Firstly, go back in time and punch yourself in the face before lying to Reghan. Secondly, snap out of that denial. Thirdly, go to Abby and make her snap out of her denial as well. Fourthly, get married in a believable manner.

Marcus blinked rapidly in confusion, causing Lexa to sigh. "But you aren't able to do any of that, are you? So just keep listening to what I'm telling you and with enough luck we can get through this unscathed."

"We should break down the rituals down for him," Indra suggested, who had been observing Marcus and Lexa interact in amusement.

Lexa drew in a deep breath. "Alright."

She guided Marcus to a table with a miniature building of the wedding venue. "This," Lexa said, pointing at a tiny wooden stage, "is the altar in front of which you are going to be married. People will stand around the altar in a circle. Remember, you will not be standing at the altar as in your customary Skaikru weddings. You will stand outside of the circle patiently waiting for the music to start. Only then, you’ll start to slowly walk down the aisle and meet Abby in the middle. Now the next part is important. You are going to kneel for each other by the altar. The priestess will open the ceremony by consecrating you by burning incense. The smell can be strong so try your hardest to keep a straight face. Next, she is going to tie your hands in a ceremonial ribbon, so wrap your arm around Abby's as soon as you hear the priestess talking about symbolic knots. Then you need to repeat a vow the priestess will recite, now the wording of the vow may make you squirm, but try to at least look Abby in the eye and say the words like you mean them. And then the priestess is going to remove the ribbon and..."

"Do I need to-?" Marcus interjected, his eyes wide.

Indra seemed to know exactly what he wanted to ask. "Pleasantly for you, every clan has the same tradition of kissing the bride at the end," she deadpanned. Only after Marcus shot her a glare, a smirk started to tug at the corners of her mouth.

He could live with a little peck on the lips. It shouldn't be anything to make a fuss of. The kiss would be over in a second and would most likely have no impact on their relationship, if only he wouldn't overthink it.

_That's why it would desirable for his mind to stop running the scenario over and over again in his head._

"Are you going to be able to do that? Kiss her?" Lexa asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

Lexa sighed. "I just have a feeling that your repressed feelings are going to sabotage the whole thing like yesterday."

Marcus huffed angrily. "Abby and I  are perfectly capable of playing our parts without any problems."

"Even the after ceremony traditions?" Indra asked.

"What traditions?"

Lexa shot Indra an unkind look and then turned her attention back to Marcus. "Let's just say that your acting abilities are going to be tested when the guests are going to have fun with making you go through the traditional wedding customs of their clans.”

"Is there anything else I should be made aware of?" Marcus asked, running his fingers through his hair.

Indra and Lexa exchanged looks. "There is one Skaikru tradition we had to include," Lexa said and nodded towards a table at the far corner of the room. There was a small, richly ornated box sitting on top it.

Marcus approached the table. He had his suspicions what the box might contain based on the nervous expressions on both women’s faces. But he had to see it for himself.

He slowly lifted the lid.

Marcus saw two silver bands laying on a velvety pillow. He immediately slammed the box shut.

"No."

Lexa fixed her stern gaze at him. "Too late to back out now, Kane."

"We are not doing this. You are not going to make Abby take off her ring for this."

"Reghan knows that Sky people show their commitment with rings. It would be highly suspicious if we didn't include them in the ceremony."

"No, no, no," Marcus said and covered his face with his hands. "This is wrong."

Next time Lexa spoke her voice was softer, almost tender. "I understand why you don't want to do this. You don't want her to give up her ring for you, even if it's only pretending. But you're a good man, Kane. You might not believe it now, but Abby lov—"

"You're just trying to manipulate me into approving this."

Lexa clamped her mouth shut, an irritated expression appearing on her face. She turned to Indra. "Kindly go and ask if Abby is willing to give her ring up."

Indra nodded and left.

"Just for one day," she emphasized to Marcus. "You don't need to have any qualms about it if she consents."

Marcus tried to protest, but just then a group of servants barged in, overeager smiles plastered on their faces.

"Finally," Lexa sighed. "Take care of his beard."

"What is happening?" he said, taking a step back as the servants surrounded him.

"You need to be prepared for the wedding too. And it seems that it's about time that thing is trimmed."

"What's wrong with my beard?" he asked sheepishly.

Marcus found himself suddenly ambushed. His arms were grabbed, rather roughly. "Follow us."

"What's wrong with my beard," he still tried while being dragged out of the door. Lexa couldn't squeeze even a hint of sympathy from her eyes as Marcus was guided to be groomed against his will.

"You brought this on yourself," she muttered.

* * *

As she sank into the steaming hot water, Abby released a content sigh. She did not remember the last time she had had a proper bath. The maids had slipped something wonderful, perhaps lavender, into the water. She breathed the wonderful scent and let her head fall back. It was her third bath of the day, the third time of being soaked in oils while her face was covered in a soothing clay mask.

Marcus could screw up every day if it meant this kind of complete pampering for her.

But she did hope that the man had not been yelled at by Lexa too much while Abby had been here. Their performance during last night had not been ideal, but Abby was sure they could do better. They just needed to plan it a little better. Needed to think about what they were going to say and to do in order to avoid embarrassing each other. But that was not going to happen as long as Abby was so insistently kept from seeing him.

The door creaked open and Abby lifted her head to see couple of the maids who had been assigned to her enter the room.

_And there went her peace._

The Broadleaf maids were nice enough, but far too curious about her and Marcus' relationship. She had been dodging questions about their "romance" all day, and after a while she realized they might be doing a double job as Reghan's spies. Abby didn't mind. She'd just keep her answer one-worded and enjoyed the treatments.

"You are absolutely glowing!" the girl exclaimed, smiling a broad smile. "You are going to be so beautiful for your groom."

"Certainly," Abby grunted.

"Are you ready for the next part?"

"Which is...?"

"The waxing of course!"

Abby smiled at her. It was odd that the same girl who had been scrubbing her perfectly smooth skin all day thought that waxing would be necessary. "I got waxed a couple of days ago, but thank you anyway."

The maids exchanged looks and started to giggle. Abby raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but you have not been waxed  _everywhere_ yet."

Abby instinctively crossed her legs as she saw the girls' eyes examining her through the transparent water.

"Or how does your beloved prefer it?" the other one asked. 

Abby started slowly sliding herself into the water, covering her burning cheeks underneath the surface.

She did not even want to consider how Marcus might prefer it. Just the thought of him anywhere near that region made her skin uncomfortably warm.

"Marcus - does not care," she managed to croak out. "And I do not need any waxing there, thank you very much."

"Would you object to a simple trim?"

Abby opened her mouth to deny the offer, but then hesitated. It was not as if Marcus would ever see that part of her. She could do whatever she pleased with her own hair. Besides, the maids probably wanted her to be flustered and objecting so they'd have something to report to the prince.

"Why not?" Abby said.

The maids shot each other a surprised look. "Very well then."

 _It would take much more than that to scare me off_ , she thought, trying to chase Marcus from her mind as the maids set to work. 

* * *

After being lotioned, exfoliated and scrubbed thoroughly a couple more times Abby was finally escorted to a dress fitting with a bathrobe on. There she was glad to meet some familiar faces, at last. No Marcus unfortunately, but Clarke, Jackson and Raven were there, smiling at her. But not as one would smile to a friend, but as one would smile at a patient going into a surgery. Abby furrowed her brow. Marrying Marcus was not that big of a hardship for her.

If any other man had made the same mistake she wouldn't have accepted with going through the wedding, but of course she would do so for Marcus. There was not much she wouldn't do for him.

_And for the peace too._

"Have you already seen the dress?" Abby asked the others.

"No, not yet. That's why we are here, to see what they've picked out for you." Clarke explained.

Just as her daughter replied, two maids entered the room carrying a rather massive looking gown in their arms. All Abby could see at first was an enormous pile of light green skirts.

"It's a special Yujleda gown," one of the girls explained. "It's typical for a Spring wedding and I’m sure that it’ll look marvellous on you.” 

Abby was guided behind a room divider.

"Will I not have any undergarments underneath?" Abby whispered when the maids started immediately to help her to put the gown on.

"You'll of course, have the garter," the girl said and showed Abby a small piece of lace with flowery adornments.

"Only that?"

"It's a Yujleda tradition for the bride to be naked underneath the gown."

"I don't care. I'm not putting that on without anything else," Abby said, watching the sheer underskirts of the gown nervously.

After long negotiations, the maids relented and promised that Abby could have panties. But not her own, another maid was called into the room to send a word for the seamstresses to provide appropriate undergarments for the bride. Abby suspected they would deliver her the tiniest patch of fabric they could find.

Abby knew by the deathly silence in the room that her daughter, Raven and Jackson had probably heard every word of the conversation. Starting to become less enthusiastic by the prospect of others witnessing the fitting, Abby feared their reaction. Especially after seeing how revealing the dress was. 

It was a beautiful dress, and she had to admit that it looked good on her. The bodice consisted of tiny golden flowers and leaves sewn together, but unfortunately they failed to cover her entire chest, leaving the valley of her breasts completely bare. Her skirts, embroidered with intricate tree branches, flowed to her sides, but her legs were only covered by a skirt of sheer gauze. The dress flowed like a dream as she moved, but she was painfully aware of the fact that her every curve was highlighted by the dress and hardly anything was left to the imagination. 

Stepping from behind the room divider, Abby nervously awaited the judgement of the others. She didn’t have to wait very long. Jackson's eyes flew open and Raven's jaw dropped.

"That's — a lot of leg," Clarke muttered, while Jackson wondered where it was appropriate for his eyes to settle. After a second of deliberation he decided that the floor was the only safe option.

"The seamstresses decided that her legs were her best asset," the maid pointed out.

"The groom will love the dress, I'm sure," the other said.

_Oh god._

Abby had completely forgotten that Marcus would see her in this dress. Well, so would the hundreds other wedding guests, but those were mostly strangers while Marcus was... someone whose opinion she dreaded. Especially since he had never seen her in anything else than her ordinary worm clothes and the occasional simple dress. 

"Here's how it looks like from the back." The maid mentioned before offering her a heavy hand held mirror.

Of course her back was completely bare. The laces of the gown only began at the absolute lowest point possible, just above the curve of her bum. Suppressing a sigh, Abby lowered the mirror before placing it on a nearby table.

"Oh, I nearly forgot. The dress is specifically designed to be as easily removed as possible for— hmmm, the after party purposes." The other girl flashed Abby a sugary smile as Clarke snapped her eyes shut at the words.

"Here, let me show you."

Before Abby could object, the girl's fingers had slipped to the laces on her back. With one little tug at the knot, the dress loosened around her in less than a second. Acting fast, Abby barely managed to snatch the front in order to prevent the whole thing from pooling at her feet. She clutched the fabric against her chest, her face burning. 

When she finally turned around, Jackson had left the room while Clarke was watching her through her fingers. Raven merely grinned. 

"Thank you for the demonstration," Abby grunted. "But I'd like to have this back on."

But before the maids could help her, Indra stepped inside the room. The very worst person besides Marcus to witness her in this state and Abby grew even more embarrassed, tightening her hold of the dress around her.

The maids glared at the woman. "This is a private dress fitting. Reghan won't like Trikru spies."

"Spies?" Indra repeated, amused. "I’m only here to deliver a message from the Commander. She wants to ask Abby's approval for something."

Indra's eyes shifted to Abby. "That's a very beautiful dress,” the grounder woman stated.

Abby sputtered a thank you, only to notice that the dress had slipped to reveal a part of her left breast. She quickly covered it and clamped her legs together to keep her dress from sliding further down, staggering back behind the room divider.

“What is it that Lexa wanted to ask me?" she shouted from behind the wall.

"Kane was worried about your ring, and Lexa wanted to know your opinion on the matter," Indra said matter-of-factly, as if her words didn't just make the breath catch in Abby's throat.

"My ring?" Abby's voice was weak, weaker than she had expected.

She would have to take it off, she realized. Marcus would a slip a new ring on her finger in less than a day.

"Would you be able to us a favor?" Indra asked, her words vague enough to leave the maids in the dark about what they were really talking about.

During her marriage with Jake she had often taken her ring off. For example, when she had washed medical equipment, taken a shower or before going to bed. But after his death she had found herself unable to part with it even for a moment, partly because she was afraid of what she'd feel if she did so. Or rather, she was afraid of what she wouldn't feel. Her worst fear was that replacing the ring with another would be easy, and that she wouldn't experience guilt or sadness at all. It already caused her qualms that she didn't feel particularly bad after sometimes entertaining the idea of falling in love again.

She knew she'd have to give up the ring eventually. But she was not sure if she'd be ready just now to face the fact that she had moved on. 

"Of course I can do that," she carefully said, as she tied a bathrobe tightly around her. Emerging from behind the divider, her eyes immediately sought those of her daughter, wanting to know her reaction. 

"Why are you looking at me?" the girl asked. "It's your decision."

"Only for one night," Abby promised.

"Mom," she sighed. "You don't have to—"

The door clanked open and their heads turned at the sound. Reghan marched in with the nonchalance of a man who owned the room, owned the dress, and owned the maids, which unfortunately for Abby, was all true.

"It's the prince!" the maid exclaimed, a bit late.

"Good day everybody," he smiled, while looking around expectantly, as if he was waiting for them to all break out in applause. No such luck, because Clarke merely stared at him with a frown and Raven threw him a glare while crossing her arms. Not to mention Indra, who looked at him as if he was nothing more than an insect.

When Reghan didn't get an appropriate response he turned to the maids, ignoring Clarke, Raven and Indra's existence. "Can I have a moment alone with the bride?"

"No," Indra said without hesitation. Raven and Clarke shook their heads behind the woman.

"I was not asking you," Reghan said with cool voice as the maids scampered out of the door.

"It's okay," Abby said to the women. "You can go."

Clarke came to her. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'll be fine," Abby whispered and gestured her to leave.

Reluctantly the women left the room, Indra throwing the prince one final look of contempt before leaving the room as well. 

As soon as they were alone, Abby remembered that she was supposed to act like she actually had respect for the prince.

"Prince Reghan," she said, giving a tiny curtsy.

"Lady Griffin. I trust that the fitting has gone well."

"Yes, certainly. The gown is beautiful," Abby said, forcing a smile on her face.

"Shame that you already took it off," Reghan said, his eyes travelling along her legs which were left uncovered by the bathrobe. "Although, I don't really mind."

Abby decided that she wasn’t even going to pretend that she actually wanted to be in the same room as him.. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You seemed rather on the edge last night, I think I might even have spotted you having a row with your groom-to-be," he said with a knowing twinkle in his eyes.

Abby had been expecting a remark like that and luckily she already had an answer prepared.

"It was all just a bit sudden and unexpected. The engagement had been more of a secret thing, and suddenly everyone knew. I was a bit irritated with Marcus for revealing it."

"Did your daughter take the news well?" Reghan asked.

Abby blinked. Reghan had apparently done some digging and found out about Clarke. Even if it was common knowledge that she had a daughter, Abby still felt uncomfortable about the fact that Reghan had looked into her life.

"She approves," Abby said curtly.

"But I just wonder," Reghan said, rolling every word off his tongue with great enjoyment, "what would Jake think about this engagement?"

Abby froze.

"If he was still alive, I mean," the prince added with a grin.

"How do you—?"

"I have my sources."

Abby had heard many disgusting things in her life, but somehow Reghan saying Jake's name beat them all. Before she had the time to respond the prince had grabbed her hand.

"That's his ring, isn't it?" he said,  _tsking_  at her finger. "It's cute that you're still holding onto it."

Abby snatched her hand away. "Why do you speak of my husband as if you have the right?"

"He's not going to be your husband for long, that's going to be Skaihefa after some odd hours. According to my intel, he and Jake were even friends. Do tell me, did it take long for him to make a move on you or was Jake's body still warm?"

"How dare you," she hissed.

"I'm only kidding," Reghan laughed. "I know that you two aren’t really together, you're better than that."

Abby felt like she had been slapped in the face.

"Let's just cut through the bullshit, shall we? I know that Skaihefa is only trying to save his own ass and I hate that he has dragged you into this. I'm not so twisted that I'd force you to go through with the wedding."

_So he does know._

Abby was not surprised. But as long as the prince didn't have any evidence she would keep her expression stony and not reveal anything.

"I’ll even call off the wedding. On one condition." The prince smiled.

_Well, of course._

"Spend one night with me and I'll forget the whole lie."

Abby snorted.

"Oh, you are actually serious?" she asked, seeing the steely look in the prince's eyes. He smirked.

_The nerve of that man._

She felt fury seep into her veins.

"You come here," she said, her voice shaking. "you insult my late husband, call my husband-to-be a liar, and then you dare to proposition me?"

Abby took a furious step towards the prince. "I love Jake. And I love Marcus. I want to marry him, and I will marry him," she said, her voice growing more and more assured by every word.

"That can't possibly be true," Reghan groaned.

A determined expression settled on his face. He leaped forward, forcing her to back against the wall. Reghan put his both hands on both sides of her body. "One word and I'll make the preparations stop. One word and you don't have to marry that spineless idiot. One word and I will give you the best night of your life."

Abby noticed that Reghan had trapped her just beside the table where she had lowered the mirror. Her fingers wrapped around its metal handle.

* * *

 "Indra!" Lexa exclaimed as the woman entered the room. She was uncorking a bottle of wine. "Celebrate with me. All the arrangements are in order and not a single clan leader has complained about the ceremony. And on top of all that, I got Kane finally groomed. And I assume that Abby has given her consent to take the new ring, right? I think we may actually be able to pull this off."

Lexa stopped pouring when she noticed that the other woman remained deadly silent. She sighed. "Please tell me that everything went well with the dress fitting."

"I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the dress is beautiful and it suits Abby. She also agreed to take her rings off."

"But?" Lexa pressed while lifting her glass to her lips.

"The prince happened to stop by and requested a private audience with her. Obviously I stayed by the door and listened. There was some conflict between the two of them."

Lexa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She lowered the glass. "Is there a possibility that you misinterpreted their conversation?"

"There was not much to interpret, after some yelling I heard a loud clash and the next thing I saw was Reghan barging out of the door, his face bloody. Abby had apparently smashed a mirror against the side of his face."

Lexa grabbed the glass back in her hand. "So much for the diplomacy," she muttered, downing the drink with one swift motion.

Just then Kane barged in with only a bathrobe on. The man had had his beard trimmed and his hair cut, looking very presentable, but his face was twisted in anger.

"What the hell is this?" he said while waving a bloody piece of clothing that was clutched in his right hand.

"That looks like a shirt with blood on it”, Indra stated before turning her attention to his new appearance. "You look handsome Kane, I'm sure Abby will be pleased."

"This is not just a shirt," he hissed. "It's Abby's shirt. Can somebody please explain to me why I found it stabbed to my door with a dagger and full with blood?”

Lexa slammed her glass back on the table. "You have been presented with a threat, Kane. If it was only fun and games before, it certainly isn't now."

"According to the snippets I heard, the prince seems to know the truth," Indra explained.

"That's obvious!" Lexa snapped. "What's less obvious is what we are going to do about this, especially after Abby has already attacked the prince."

"Why has she attacked the prince?" Kane's expression darkened. "Has Reghan tried to do something to her?"

Indra shrugged. "For all I know, they were left alone in a room and the next thing I knew—"

"They were left alone?" Kane cried out. 

"And Abby hit him with a mirror. I believe that the prince doesn't want to sleep with her anymore after that incident, but it seems like he now wants to slit her throat, based on that bloody shirt. He must have snatched it from her room."

Kane turned to Lexa, furious. "How can I accept to do this if you can't even keep her safe?"

"I'm sure Abby can take care of herself. I you don't trust her on that part, you are free to take her under your protection. That is not one of my duties in this hellish mission."

"Very well then. If Reghan does as much as blinks towards Abby during the wedding I'll run that sword of his through his head."

Lexa sighed. "I take that back. I'll make sure Reghan doesn't get close to her again, and you can focus on fixing the situation."

"So there’s still hope that we’ll survive this?" Indra asked carefully.

"As long as everybody else other than Reghan believes that this wedding is legitimate, he can't do anything about it. He can’t exactly call Kane a liar without experiencing some difficulties with the other clans."

Lexa turned to Kane, a ruthless determination etched on her features.

"This is probably going to ruin your and Abby's professional relationship, if you want to call it that, but I don't care. I am expecting passionate kisses, an exchange of genuine vows of love, ardent looks at your bride, and touching, lots of it. You need to be glued to her hip. Keep your arm around her, growl at every man who even tries to approach her and retreat as early as you can to your chamber. It's the only way we can still save this."

Kane blinked.

"Can you handle that?" Lexa asked, even though she already knew the answer.

* * *

Abby was laying on her bed, restless, thinking about what she had done to Reghan and its consequences, when she heard a knock on the door. She leaped out of the bed, searching for something solid to smash against the intruder's head. 

"Abby? It's me, Marcus," she heard through the door.

Abby let out a deep sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. I thought it was—"

"You thought I was Reghan, didn't you?"

Marcus's voice was almost unrecognizable. It was low and deep in a way that suggested that every single word had been uttered with pure hatred for the prince. The sound of it made Abby shiver.

After she found herself unable to form an answer that wouldn't upset Marcus, the door creaked.

"I'm coming in."

"No, don't!" Abby cried, her hands flying around her chest in an attempt to cover the parts her night robe failed to hide. The diabolical maids had first declared that it was a Yujleda tradition for the bride to sleep naked, but after a long, frustrating argument Abby had eventually won herself a night robe, although it was a very sheer one, almost transparent. There was no way she was going to let Marcus see her dressed in this.

The door closed again, and a silence followed as Marcus waited for an explanation.

"We— we shouldn't see each other before the wedding," she stuttered.

Abby heard Marcus snort behind the door. "I doubt that rule applies to us."

"Indra said that we are not allowed to see it each other. It's apparently a very serious tradition," Abby lied through her teeth.

After a long pause there was a sigh. "I guess we shouldn't test our luck."

"But I'm glad that I’m able to hear your voice," Abby tried to comfort her as she leaned against the door. 

"I'm glad to hear your voice too. I looked for you throughout the entire day, but they wouldn’t even allow me to see you.” 

Abby smiled, pressing her palm against the spot Marcus was probably leaning his head against on the other side if the door.

"I was worried," Marcus continued in a faint voice.

Abby drew in a breath. "Did you hear what happened with the prince?” 

"I did. And in my opinion the bastard would've deserved a lot more."

She bit back a bitter laugh. "Did I ruin everything?"

"No, of course not. We just need to act a little harder, that's all."

She sighed. "How are we going to do that?"

"We'll just kiss each other a few extra times, I imagine," he said, his voice hesitant. 

Abby didn't want to reveal that the thought of kissing Marcus even once caused nervous fluttering in her stomach. The whole day she had tried to not to think about the kiss that would end the ceremony, but as the maids had yapped about the impending wedding, they had planted her head full of ideas what the touch of lips would feel like. Now the unnerving thought of kissing Marcus resurfaced, and she tried to desperately push it back and focus on talking to him.

"Just a couple more kisses. That's nothing," she breathed.

"I doubt that a bit of kissing is going to seriously affect our professional relationship, as Lexa claimed to me," he chuckled.

"But what we have is a much more than that. "

A deafening silence followed that statement and it was only then that Abby  realized that she could have phrased that a little bit better.

"I mean, we are not just colleagues, Marcus. You are my best friend."

An even heavier silence followed. Abby snapped her eyes shut and let out a silent curse. This was not the time for these kind of awkward proclamations considering what they had to go through tomorrow.

After a while she could hear a shaky little voice coming through the door.

"I consider you my best friend too, Abby."

Marcus sounded touched. Almost too much so, and Abby had a suspicion that the man had not been truly aware of much she cared for him before. 

Suddenly she was very frustrated by the wood that separated them. She wanted to give the man a hug and tell him how much she appreciated having him by her side, how much he meant to her, how much she needed him.

“Marcus, I- you don't even understand how— "

She closed her mouth, unsure how to properly voice her current feelings. 

"You're right. I don't think I'll ever understand why you consider me your friend, after all those things I’ve done to you in the past. I don’t deserve it,” he whispered.

Now she desperately needed to embrace him, needed to be as close to him as humanly possible. She regretted lying to him about not being able to see each other. Sheer night robe or not, she wanted him to wrench that door open so she could rush into his arms, whisper all of those things in his ear, and try to convince him of the fact that she cared for none other man more than him. 

She pictured his arms tentatively wrapped around her as he pressed her close to his chest. Then only the thinnest layer of clothing would separate her naked body from his clothed one.

She felt a strange swirl in her stomach at the thought.

Her imagination started to run wild. Marcus' hands would drift lower until his fingertips danced on the small of her back. She would let out a deep sigh of his name as his hands found their way to the belt of her robe before slowly starting to pull the knot open— 

"Abby, are you still there?"

At the sound of his voice she was suddenly shaken from her daydream. 

"Yes, of course!" she yelped, embarrassed to her bones of what she had just imagined. The maids must have found a way to get into her head after all, with all those wedding night talks. Or maybe it was the silken feel of the robe against her skin in the cool room, or Marcus' low voice that had fueled this bizarre fantasy. Abby didn't want her mind to particularly linger on the other possible causes. 

"I just wanted to say, our relationship won't be affected by the wedding if we don't let it," she said, her voice a little out of breath. Abby hoped Marcus wouldn't notice.

"And we won't let it," Marcus said firmly. After a second of silence, he continued: "I should let you sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Yes, we do."

"I guess I'll see you at the altar."

Abby gulped. "I guess so."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

As she heard the sounds of his footsteps moving farther away she sighed, and slumped against the door. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. It was almost impossible to chase away the strangely tantalizing image of Marcus slipping into her room and seeing her in this robe. Abby bit her lip as she wondered how he would've reacted.

She inwardly grimaced at her overactive imagination and tried to clear her head.

It was only natural for a woman, after having been treated like a bride the whole day, to start to think about her husband-to-be in this bewildering way. But as soon as the wedding would be over, these thoughts would surely disappear.

That was at least what she hoped.


	4. The ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the final moments before the ceremony Clarke gives her blessing to objecting Abby, and Marcus gets some last minute advice. The pair are finally wedded. Abby is a startlingly good actor and Marcus discovers some new, cryptic feelings towards his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may have been my favorite to write. I hope you'll like it as much as I did.

The morning passed by in a haze. Abby had been pulled out of her bed, moisturized and perfumed from head to toe, dressed in the gown with only sheer lace panties underneath, just as she had expected. After being dressed she’d been planted in a chair as the maids started tying her curled hair into a loose braid while weaving fresh roses in her locks. 

Gazing into the mirror she observed how she was slowly transformed into a bride. Her lips were painted, the imperfections of her aged skin covered and her lashes were made long and dark. But the rosy flush on her cheeks was not due the color the maids had padded on her skin. It was entirely caused by the realization that she would soon be marrying Marcus.

_Or rather pretending to marry Marcus._

The correction did not in any way abate the storm of butterflies in her stomach. She knew it was ridiculous to be feeling so nervous. After all, it would only take a little bit of acting and then it would all be over. Hopefully things could go back to normal afterwards and she wouldn’t feel too flustered around him. 

Hearing the door open, Abby turned her head just as Clarke entered the room. 

"They're expecting us soon," her daughter stated with a bright smile on her face. 

Abby gave Clarke a nod. Yesterday Lexa had proposed for Clarke to give her away, and at first Abby hadn’t deemed it necessary for anyone to escort her, but her daughter had insisted, stating that if she didn’t get to do this now, she would never get the chance. When Abby had pressed and asked if Clarke thought she’d never remarry, her daughter had replied with a cryptic: ”Depends if you get that annulment or not.” 

"Of course we'll get an annulment," Abby had said, causing Clarke to roll her eyes.

And now as Clarke is making her way over, a wistful expression grows on her face. "You look so beautiful mom."

Abby could swear she saw Clarke's lower lip quiver. The maids seemed to notice that too since they decided to silently leave the room in order to give them some privacy. After all, their work was done. 

Her reflection joined Abby's in the mirror as the girl crouched down to wrap her hands around her mother. Clarke let her head rest on Abby's shoulder, a contemplative expression appearing on her face. 

"Kane’s going to be speechless when he’ll lay his eyes on you," she eventually said, forcing a smile on her face. 

Abby wasn’t sure how to reply to such a statement. 

"Well, if he thinks it will fool everyone, I'm sure he'll try to act impressed," Abby swiftly muttered before returning her gaze on her reflection, only to notice the slight blush on her cheeks and she quickly averted her eyes towards her lap. But as she looked down, she noticed in the mirror how an annoyed look flickered across Clarke’s face. 

"I'm not stupid mom," she snapped. 

"I never implied anything of the sort Clarke.”

Her daughter scoffed. "You two are clearly more than friends."

Abby cast a stern look into the mirror. "And you are clearly misinformed. We haven't even—"

"—kissed," Clarke finished. "Everyone can clearly see that, especially after the way the both of you continue to dance around each other.”

When Abby was too startled to answer, Clarke simply pressed on: ”When the prince told us about your engagement, I was shocked, as I’m sure you noticed. I simply didn’t expect for you two to make such a huge step so quickly, since it seemed like you two would never act on your feelings.” 

Abby gulped. "Clarke, I don’t understand where you’re getting this all from?”

"I know that you love him," her daughter exclaimed.

"Of course, I—" Abby paused before clearing her throat. 

"Of course, I care for him, but not in the way you mean."

Abby wished Clarke would stop taunting her in this way. The ceremony was just about to start and she did not need any more complications to the whole process which she already had to endure. She felt her cheeks burning even more, especially after wondering how Marcus would react to these accusations. 

"That's a shame mom, because I think that he’s very much in love with you.” 

She could not help it, but as the words left Clarke's lips, her heart almost leaped out of her chest. It proceeded with pounding so hard against her ribcage she swore her daughter could hear the sounds too and probably draw ridiculous conclusions based on them. 

But surely it was simply the stress she was experiencing which made her body act up. 

"Whatever gave you that impression?” she managed to croak out, while desperately trying to keep her tone calm and nonchalant. 

"Because he looks at you like dad used to do," Clarke whispered, as she pressed her cheek against her mother’s. 

At the mention of Jake, Abby felt a lump rise in her throat. But she also realized that her daughter wasn’t entirely wrong. She remembered the way Marcus’ eyes would soften as he gazed at her, and the way he breathed her name, and his tentative touch. And the tiniest flicker of some new emotion Abby couldn’t name lighted up her chest like a candlelight in the darkness. A candlelight she quickly snuffed. Marcus saw her only as a friend. 

"Clarke-," she tried with a hoarse voice, but her daughter gently hushed her.

"We can talk about this after the wedding. People are waiting."

She then offered her mother her arm in order to help Abby off the chair. As Abby accepted Clarke’s arm, she attempted to rise but her knees felt weak and the butterflies in her stomach were now fluttering at full speed. 

Clarke's eyes flickered downwards, her expression turning unsure. 

"What is it?"

Her daughter gestured towards her necklace and the ring on her finger and Abby let out a strangled chuckle. "I understand."

During the preparations she had insisted on wearing the necklace, not wanting to part with it until the very last minute. She gently touched it before slowly unclapsing it and pulling it from her neck. Letting the chain rest in her palm Abby then removed her wedding ring with just the amount of ease she had been afraid of.

She felt the strange sensation of air brushing against the bare skin of her finger, a part that had been covered by metal for so long. As she took the ring in her hand, she swallowed back the lump in her throat while sliding it over the chain until it rested against Jake’s ring. 

"If you could—," she began, offering them to Clarke. 

"Of course." Clarke accepted the rings, before clutching them in her fist. Giving her mother a gentle smile, she whispered: "I'm going take such good care of them."

Her words were soft and her gaze understanding. She acted as if Abby was not entrusting the rings in her care for only a day, but that she was permanently giving them up. What terrified Abby was that she couldn’t find the strength in herself to correct her daughter.

"I—" Abby tried, blinking back tears that had suddenly welled up in her eyes. 

Clarke noticed her reaction immediately. "Mom, it's okay," she said, while crouching down until she was next to her mother before cupping Abby’s cheek. "Listen to me. Taking off those rings doesn’t mean that you’ve forgotten dad. I don’t wear his watch anymore and yet he’s still with me during every single second of every day.” 

Brushing away a tear from her mother’s cheek, she continued, albeit in a slightly shaky voice: ”No matter how big of a part Kane has in your heart, there will always be space for dad, I’m sure of it. And you know that he would've wanted you to be happy.”

With glistening eyes, Clarke sniffed out the next sentence; ”And Kane makes so you happy mom.” 

Marcus did make her happy, Abby had been aware of that for a long time. Just seeing his face, even if it was wrinkled in a concerned frown, made a small smile tug at her lips. At first it had been a funny realization that this man, the man she had despised on the Ark, could now pluck at the strings of her heart so effortlessly. In just a few seconds he could make her smile, make her giggle like a teenager with his teasing, or make her chest flood with overwhelming joy by simply suttering some heartfelt words. 

Yes, she really did love him.

 _But only as a friend_ , she reasoned.

"Marcus is very good to me. He's a dear friend," she said to Clarke, her voice slightly trembling.

"Of course," Clarke said tenderly, wiping the wetness from Abby's cheeks, but careful not to smudge her her make up. 

"It's just an act, Clarke," Abby murmured when she sensed that her daughter couldn't quite believe her. "Just an act."

But Clarke simply smiled before taking her mother’s arm and escorting her to he door. As she made her way out of the room, Abby realized that everything, from her own emotions to Clarke's soft expression, felt too vivid and too real for it _just_ to be an act.

* * *

 

"Are you finally ready?" Lexa asked while barging into the room. 

"I would like to know the answer to that question too," Marcus dryly retorted. His legs were getting tired from standing still all morning while the tailors had been sewing him into his outfit. 

He was wearing a close-fitting button-up shirt with a long tight collar. It was richly ornated with golden flowers over his chest. His suit jacket had similar adornments, both on the edging as on the sleeves. The jacket opened at his shoulders, revealing the white puffy sleeves from the white shirt he was wearing underneath. A single rose, from the rare breed Lexa had mentioned, had been pinned to his chest.

The outfit was handsome, but Marcus hardly dared to even breathe for the fear of a button or two popping off. Roan and Lincoln were both with him, watching him get dressed. They had been giving him last minute advice of the grounder wedding etiquette. 

"Don't let anyone else dance with her than you," Roan said to Marcus, deciding not to acknowledge Lexa's rude interruption. 

"What if she wants to?"

Roan sighed. "Trust me, if you’d simply listen to my instructions, Abby won’t want to be in anyone else arms than yours.”

"Alright, continue."

"Remember, you're the luckiest man in the world. Grounders want you to show that, and I’m sure Abby would want the same."

Lincoln piped up. "Tiny, barely noticeable displays of affection are more convincing than grand gestures."

"You two are giving me very contradictory instructions," Marcus said, exasperated. 

"That's what you get when you ask two men from different clans for advice," Lexa said, gesturing the maids to get their hands off Marcus. "We need to go."

"Is it starting already?" Marcus asked, feeling his stomach drop.

"In just a couple of moments. You actually should already be there.” 

"Why aren't I?"

"I feared you'd run away so I wanted to keep you under observation."

After seeing Marcus' offended expression, Lexa continued: "Can you blame me? You look so jittery, one would think that you're marching off to your death instead of your marriage."

"He does look like that," Lincoln said while examining him thoughtfully. Marcus shot him a glare. 

Lexa waved him to get moving and scurried out of the door. As Marcus turned to follow her, he was stopped by Roan. 

"Do you want my last wedding advise?" he asked while smoothing out Marcus' jacket. 

"I have a feeling you're going to give it to me regardless of my answer."

"Don't drink too much wine. You’ll only have one wedding night during your life, after all."

Roan then patted him on the shoulder with a wide grin before leaving the room. Marcus watched his retreat with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging slightly open. 

"So I’m guessing nobody told him this wedding isn’t actually real?" he asked Lincoln, who merely smirked before shaking his head.

* * *

 

When Lincoln escorted Marcus to the clearing, it looked completely different from the night of the peace celebration, where it had been so dark that Marcus could barely take a step without stomping on someone's feet. Now the whole place was filled with sunlight, and Marcus could see the trees blooming with the first flowers of spring. Beautifully ornated lanterns had been hung from the branches, waiting to be lit when the day would eventually turn into night. Above the ground rose the altar, which had been decorated with light colored festoons, and the priestess, clad in a dark green cape, was already standing next to it.

When Marcus' eyes found the aisle that was marked with a sea of petals, he stopped with a gulp. Lexa quickly approached him.

"You'll be fine. _Probably_ ," she said. "Do you remember what you have to do? Walk to her. Kneel. Wait - 

"- Grab her hands. Repeat the vows. Exchange rings. Kiss. Rise up. Leave," Marcus recited. "Of course I remember, you hammered it in my head so many times I'll probably remember it forever."

Lexa gave him an approving nod. "Keep an eye on him," she ordered Lincoln before she disappeared into the crowd. 

Then the waiting started. It must not have been more than few minutes, but for Marcus it felt like a lifetime. With every passing second he felt his heart climbing farther up in his throat. Lincoln probably tried to offer him reassuring looks, but Marcus couldn't move his gaze from the aisle where Abby would soon be approaching him. 

The music started, causing Marcus to flinch. Abby didn't appear immediately, like he had anticipated. Pushing back the horrifying thought of her not showing up, Marcus tried to enjoy the beautiful melody, but unfortunately the soothing tune of the instruments didn’t ease his anxiety. He felt like he could shatter if he had to wait a minute longer. 

Marcus kept mouthing the instructions in order to calm his mind, and partly because he was worried they would slip from his mind because of the stress.  

_Walk to her. Kneel. Wait. Grab her hands. Repeat the vows. Exchange rings. Kiss. Rise up. Leave_

The crowd started shuffling excitedly. They must have seen the bride approaching. Marcus closed eyes, trying his hardest to concentrate. 

_Walk to her. Kneel. Wait. Grab her hands. Repeat the vows. Exchange rings. Kiss. Rise up. Leave._

_Walk to her. Kneel. Wait. Grab her hands. Repeat the vows. Exchange rings. Kiss. Rise up. Leave._

Marcus drew in a deep breath. There was no need for worry, he had recited Lexa's instructions so many times it would take more than a few nervous swirles in his stomach to erase them from his memory. He opened his eyes. 

With one glimpse at Abby, his mind was wiped completely blank. 

The crowd moved out of the way, giving him a clear view of the woman who had suddenly appeared in front of him like an angel. She was approaching him with her arm wrapped around her daughter's, the hem of her dress gliding in her wake. 

No, Marcus could not describe it as a dress. She had something so enchanting, so other-worldly on her, it could not be described with a word meant for something so mundane as a piece of clothing. 

A sea of golden flowers and leaves was sewn together around her upper body as the strapless top of the dress. The floral material hugged her like a second skin, reaching up to cover only a part her chest, giving Marcus a torturous peek of the swell of her breasts, her bare shoulders and her collarbone. 

From her waist cascaded two skirts. They were the lighest hue of green and the fabric was adorned with beautiful flowery branches. But the skirts only sprawled to her sides; her lower body below the midriff was left covered by only the sheerest of gauzes. The material was so thin Marcus could see her long alluring legs moving underneath it, making his throat feel even drier than it was already. 

Her hair had been loosely braided together to flow down her back as a brimming bunch of unruly curls, leaving only a couple of honey brown ringlets to frame her face. Roses in the color of the sky just before dawn were woven into her locks. She had the appearance of Spring itself.

But what truly made his insides melt into a puddle was the expression on her face. Abby could barely look at him, she kept nervously glancing down, her lashes fluttering with a hint of a warm flush on her cheeks. But she had the most beautiful smile flickering across her features. Marcus saw the corners of her mouth curving repeatedly upwards, revealing flashes of her teeth as if she was about to let out a tiny laugh.

She finally lifted her gaze, and her mirth-filled eyes met his. Abby cast him a a look, a secret smile meant only for him. _Can you believe this is actually happening?_   it seemed to say. 

No, he could not believe it. 

She was a goddess and she was walking towards him. 

Somewhere in the deepest corner of his mind Marcus was aware that he should have started to approach her too. But his feet were firmly planted to the ground, all his muscles shut down except for the ones in his jaw that kept his mouth opening wide and then clamping shut again in a steady cycle. 

Lincoln nudged him in the ribs. 

"Go," he whispered forcefully.

Marcus was startled awake. He forced his feet to move, and they did, albeit slowly and unsurely. He felt the urge to run away from the breathtaking sight in front of him instead of walking towards it. There was no way in the world that she was meant for someone like him. 

He was faintly aware of Clarke flashing him a smile before she let go of her mother's arm, but all he could possibly pay attention to were Abby's eyes, and the way they were shining for him.

Now she was right in front of him by the altar and her gaze darted nervously away from his. Marcus attempted a smile, wondering if he should say something encouraging. 

But as he watched Abby lift her eyes and answer his smile with the shy curve of her lips, he realized there was only one thing he could ever think of saying.

_I have never seen anything so beautiful as you right now._

Before he had the chance to say anything her lashes fluttered shut. 

Abby started slowly kneeling and Marcus found himself unable to breathe for a moment. The sight of the woman lowering herself in front of him, eyes closed, was almost too much to handle. He felt his chest ignite with a shattering feeling, a feeling of burning and desperation that he was not sure he had ever experienced before now. 

Abby looked up at him with panicked eyes. Marcus realized he was supposed to kneel too. He dropped down on his knees, his head full of air. 

_How did Lexa's instructions go again?_

He grabbed her hand, startling Abby. The priestess curved her eyebrow. 

_Oh, not yet._

Marcus tried to pull his hand away, but Abby gently wrapped her fingers around his arm, not allowing him to let go. She gave his arm a comforting squeeze. 

"You are trembling," she whispered. 

 _You are too_ , Marcus noticed. Abby's hand was slightly wobbly. He tightened his hold on her, smiling. Abby returned his smile. For a while they just stared at each other, both having a hard time processing that they were really doing this. 

"These two travellers are have arrived here today to unite their souls as one," the voice of the priestess boomed. "Let the gods bless their decision." 

She continued with a long speech in Trigedasleng Marcus had a hard time following as he smelled the scent of burning incense. Lexa wasn't lying, the smell was truly strong. He tried his hardest to keep his face neutral, which he noticed Abby was struggling to do as well. Amusement was spilling from her eyes. Marcus tried to shake his head slightly at her, signalling that now was not an appropriate time to chuckle. 

The next thing he knew, the priestess started was tying a ribbon just a little bit too tightly around their hands, making them both wince. 

"A symbol of everlasting bond," the priestess declared.

Abby's eyes met his.

 _This is ridiculous,_ they seemed to express.

Marcus glared at her. _Don't you dare laugh._

_I won't if you won't._

Marcus saw the corners of her mouth tugging upwards and he could feel his own lips starting to twitch. Dammit.

_"I'm serious. We will offend..."_

Marcus forgot the name of the clan the moment Abby's whole face crinkled into a smile. Seeing her twinkling eyes, her teeth beaming bright and her flushed cheeks dimpled, made him forgot even his own name. She let out the tiniest of laughs and Marcus could not have stopped her even if he had wanted to.

"Now the vows." The voice of the priestess was frosty.

The priestess continued by saying something in Trigedasleng, which Marcus couldn't quite understand. It was hard to concentrate when Abby was so close to him, smiling at him like that. 

Marcus met Abby's gaze. He began together with the priestess. 

"I'm here today to promise my heart to you. I offer it to you unconditionally, unabashedly, completely. I place it in your care, for I'm yours. I'm yours until the sun burns black and the oceans run dry, until the stars fall and the earth beneath our feet turns into dust. I'm yours, forever only yours."

As Lexa had warned, the words were a little bit awkward to recite to Abby who was watching him with her big brown eyes. Marcus cleared his throat and continued. 

"This is my vow, which I will hold as true as my love for you. My love won't wither, won't die. Every second of the rest of my life I will love you as much as I do now, with all my soul. I wish to grow old with you, protect you, cherish and love you, if only you'll have me as your husband. If you accept, I shall never be parted from you again."

The priestess turned to Abby. "Do you accept?"

"Yes," she whispered with a barely audible voice. 

Marcus' traitorous heart leaped at the word. 

 _This was not real_ , he said to himself. Why did he need to remind himself of that?

Abby lifted her eyes. 

"I'm here today to promise my heart to you. I offer it to you unconditionally, unabashedly, completely. I place it in your care, for I'm yours. "

She had began without any lead, surprising both the priestess and Marcus. 

"I'm yours until the sun burns black and the oceans run dry, until the stars fall down and the earth beneath our feet turns into dust. I'm yours, forever only yours."

 _She had memorized the vow_ , Marcus realized. And she did a damn good job reciting it, every word leaving her lips was laced with powerful emotion. If he didn't know she was only acting, he would've let his heart be fooled by the sweet melody of her words and the soft gaze in her eyes. 

"This is my vow, which I will hold as true as my love for you. My love won't wither, won't die. Every second of the rest of my life I will love you as much as I do now, with all my soul. I wish to grow old with you, protect you, take care of you, cherish and love you, if only you'll have me as your wife."

Abby took a pause. Marcus realized he had been holding his breath. 

"If you accept, I shall never be parted from you again."

The priestess smiled at Marcus. "Do you accept?"

"Yes," he exhaled. 

The ribbon was loosened around their hands but Marcus was not quite ready to let go of her yet. And Abby was neither, so they just kept holding each other until a small, terrifying box was delivered to the priestess. 

"The rings," she announced and opened the lid.

Marcus gulped, examining Abby's reaction. She had lowered her gaze, her mouth drawn into a serious, tight line. 

_This is wrong._

Marcus took the ring from the priestess, his heart heavy. He shouldn’t have made her do this. He should've just taken the fall for his actions. He couldn't even imagine what she must be going through right now. 

Marcus slipped the ring on her finger, his throat so compressed it barely let any air through. It slipped to its place with such ease that Marcus felt the need to swallow hard. 

Abby studied the new ring in her finger, a mysterious expression on her face. She accepted the other ring from the priestess, and took Marcus' hand.

She slowly pushed the ring on his finger, and in an unexpected move that made the breath hitch in his throat, Abby brought his hand to her lips and pressed a tender kiss on his knuckles, just beside the new resting place of his wedding band. The touch of her lips burned his skin, and it didn't help that she had a soft smile playing on her lips as she lifted her gaze.

"These rings serve as a symbol of your commitment to each other," the priestess declared, and began a long speech in Trigedasleng, probably explaining to grounders in the audience the purpose of those odd metal pieces.

Abby really did play her part perfectly. She probably had no trouble convincing anyone in the audience that she really did love him, and she was in the danger of also convincing him of... something unthinkable. 

"Seal your union with a kiss."

Marcus was awaken from his reverie by the words. Abby was looking at him expectantly, her eyes flickering nervously from his lips to the ground and back again. 

_This was it._

_Just a short, light kiss_ , Marcus thought as he brought his hand to her face. His fingers selfishly brushed her rosy cheeks, causing Abby's lashes to flutter shut. His hand moved to cup her jaw, tenderly, as if she was fragile, precious thing. Marcus leaned forward, closing his eyes. 

It was a tentative, airy touch of lips at first. Marcus didn't dare to brush his mouth any firmer against hers than he deemed appropriate. But Abby's lips were soft, impossibly so, and he found himself deepening the kiss, getting lost in her taste. 

She felt lovelier than he could have ever imagined. The sensation of her lips against his was like the touch of the first rays of sunshine in the morning. And she was kissing him back, the sweet caress of her mouth threatening to lull Marcus into the loveliest of dreams, into a world of cautious hope. Hope of what, he didn't quite know. 

But just as quickly it had started, it was over. Marcus slowly pulled back, his half-lidded eyes still locked on Abby's lips. 

 _I want to kiss her again_ , he realized. 

No, scratch that. _I never want to stop kissing her._

They stared at each other, bewildered, until Abby looked away, biting her lip. 

Marcus noticed that a petal had fallen on her bare shoulder. He plucked it up, confused, only to discover a similar one landing on his nose. As he snatched it off, hundreds of petals started raining all around them, until his and Abby's heads and shoulders were covered in them. 

Marcus looked around, seeing people around them showering them in rose petals and cheering. Lexa hadn't mentioned this, but she hadn't also warned of him about the mental state he would be in at the end of the ceremony so Marcus was glad for the distraction. He helped Abby up, and remembered Roan's words.

_You're the luckiest man in the world. Grounders want you to show it._

Marcus lifted their entangled hands into the air in a victorious gesture. The cheers for the newly-weds were deafening. 

But as they escaped from the audience, hand in hand, covered in petals, neither of them could speak nor look at each other. Marcus felt like his chest could split in half of the whole new ardor that had consumed it. 

 _This might be more complicated than I thought_ , he realized, as he found himself unable to think about anything else than the taste of Abby's lips.


	5. The feast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abby and Marcus endure the painful awkwardness that is the wedding feast. Lexa makes a blunder and Marcus gives a speech.

"Your sleeve is ripped," Abby remarked as Marcus approached the table reserved for him and his bride, carrying a plate full of cake.

"Oh yeah," Marcus said, glancing at his torn suit jacket. "That probably happened when I had to wrestle some men.”

Abby didn't even blink. "Another tradition?"

"I'm afraid so."

The better part of the feast had passed and Marcus now understood why Lexa had tried to conceal the traditions accompanying grounder weddings. From the moment the official ceremony had ended, the wedding had been full of torment on his part. One tradition after another followed, until the sky had turned dark and Marcus couldn't think of a single thing he hadn't been asked to do to prove his love for Abby. 

The things had been asked to do had varied from something easy like lighting up the bonfire as a symbol for his ardor for his new wife, to something a bit more awkward like cutting himself a piece of Abby's gauzy hem and tying it around his wrist for other men to see, to something even more uncomfortable, like presenting Clarke a dagger to stab him with if he ever wronged Abby. The girl had started laughing so much Lexa had had to walk her out for a while.

Just now Marcus had gone to fetch Abby some cake, not knowing the simple task would end up as a wrestling match. According to the grounder tradition, in case the groom would lose the fight, the winner had the permission to feed the cake to the bride. Marcus didn't want to subject Abby to that so after some sweating and struggling, he had pinned the men on the ground and escaped with his cake. He wouldn't be back for more, that was for sure.

A small part of him was a little bit relieved for having to perform any tasks the grounders presented to him. He'd do anything to be kept as long as possible from the table where Abby was waiting for him. He couldn't quite look her in the eye after the incident with the petals.

The petals were a part of the most awkward tradition of them all, which unfortunately was also a recurring one. Every time someone decided to shower the newly-weds with petals which were conveniently lying all around, Marcus had to pluck every single one off Abby before placing a little kiss on all the places they had landed, and Abby had to do the same for him.

The last time they had had petals thrown over them, Marcus had tried to get the tradition over with as quickly as possible. Petals from her hair were replaced with swift little kisses, her curls tickling his nose when his mouth landed on the crown of her head. The ultimate problem had been the petals on her shoulders. Marcus had barely brushed his lips against her skin, but she had still become more and more flushed with every kiss. Abby had an easier job of kissing the few places Marcus had petals left as most of them he had immediately tried to shed off, but one stubborn petal had stuck behind his ear. When Abby had pressed her mouth against his sensitive skin there, Marcus couldn't help but turn crimson too at the tender touch of her lips. By the end of the process they had been both blushing and stuttering.

"Cake?" Marcus asked, trying to shake off the memory of her collarbone beneath his lips. 

"No thanks," Abby said quickly.

The following silence was heavy and oppressive, and he immediately regretted returning to her. He’d rather wrestle those grounders again than endure this awkwardness. 

As Marcus seated himself he noticed Abby looking anywhere but him. He inwardly sighed. It was safe to say that their relationship was forever changed. 

He stared at the cake. The treat looked delicious, having been carefully made by bakers from Delphi, but Marcus didn't feel like eating. He pushed the plate away and joined Abby in staring at the empty space in front of them, neither of them daring to utter a word. 

"Lexa is glaring daggers at us," she said after a while. 

Marcus gulped. "Maybe we should..."

It had been a while since they had last kissed. They had shared tiny pecks on the cheek during the night, hoping that it would be enough to keep their relationship convincing. But their efforts had mostly been in vain since most of the guest were too occupied with celebrating and drinking all the wine they could get their hands on to even notice the tiny kisses, but the pair still felt obligated to give them. Although, one of the reasons Marcus had wanted to avoid her was that he didn't know if he could handle another display of affection. 

"We should." Abby said. 

Marcus turned his head, only to discover Abby's lips smacking against his own. The peck lasted barely a fraction of a second before Abby pulled away, flustered and sputtering. "I was aiming for the cheek."

"Right," Marcus breathed, feeling the electric shock of her kiss still tingling on his lips, causing his cheeks to burn. He turned his head. 

He kept his gaze strictly away from Abby, knowing that his treacherous eyes would immediately wander back to her lips. He was starting to feel like the whole wedding was a hell designed specifically for him. Having her so close to him, looking so beautiful made it hard for him to think, even breathe properly. He was not sure what exactly she had awakened in him during the ceremony but the feeling was dangerous enough to make him want to escape from her before he did something irrevocable.

The feast couldn’t be over soon enough. Afterwards Marcus would have the opportunity to avoid her for a while, just enough to kill this strange yearning in him. He supposed the feeling was caused by him not having been with a woman in a long time.

"I'm going to get more wine," Abby exhaled and rose up.

"Good idea," Marcus muttered. They needed all the wine they could have to get through this. 

Just as she turned to leave a herd of giggling women scampered to their table. 

"Finally!" one of them cried and laid a wet kiss on Marcus' lips much to his great shock. When the woman parted Marcus was left blinking furiously, not quite believing what had just happened. 

"It's a tradition of Trishanakru," one of them explained, giving Marcus a kiss on the cheek. "If the bride leaves the table, anyone is free to go steal a kiss from the groom."

"So you better not take too long," a particularly attractive grounder woman winked at Abby, and tugged at Marcus's lapels to pull him to her lips.

 _What an uncomfortable tradition_ , Marcus thought as he tried to wriggle free, eliciting a laugh from the woman. 

The women left guffawing, undoubtedly because of his stupefied expression. He turned his head to see that Abby was looking rather irritated, and Marcus, amused by her expression, had the urge to strike up some of their usual banter.

"Maybe you should bring everything to our table from now on," he joked. 

Abby flashed him a sugary smile. "Maybe I will stay away from you the whole evening so you can get as many kisses as you want from those beautiful women."

Marcus frowned. 

"I was just kidding. I don't want kisses from anyone but you."

When Abby's eyes widened a fraction, he quickly corrected. "I mean, the groom I'm playing wants kisses. But I don't want to you to kiss me. At all."

"I see," she said with a chilly voice. "I'll give you a break from your ordeal then."

Marcus pinched his eyes shut. "I didn't mean—"

But Abby left without letting him finish, chin raised high and eyes clenched shut.

"Abby!" he tried to call but the woman was already gone. 

Marcus groaned, burying his face in his hands. He just couldn't catch a break from his own idiocy.

This whole thing was way harder than he would've ever expected. During every awkward second of this wedding he could feel the distance between them grow and it hurt. 

Maybe Marcus deserved it. After all, he had started this whole mess with his idiotic burst of protectiveness. If anything else, this night was a big lesson for him on what not to do in order to remain friends with Abby.

He did not get much time to wallow in his self-loathing before he was woken up to the outside world by sounds of merriment approaching him.

Marcus opened his eyes and saw Roan, a drunken pink tint on his cheeks, grinning at him with other men in a similar state behind him.

"We are going to be needing this," he said, wrapping his hands around the legs of Abby's chair. He was soon joined by Bellamy of all people who grabbed the arms. The others came to help too, all the while laughing maniacally.

"What do you think you are doing?" Marcus jumped up from his seat.

"Calm down. It's just a tradition," Bellamy chuckled. Roan counted to three and they yanked the chair up.

"Where are you taking the chair?"

"We are just introducing it to our dear friend Mr bonfire," Roan explained. The men burst laughing and started carrying the chair away.

"I was not notified of this!" Marcus yelled after them.

He looked around for any support. Fortunately he saw Lexa talking with Clarke near the bonfire. 

"They took Abby's chair," he said as he reached them.

"I can see that," Lexa muttered, sipping her drink as the group threw the chair to the fire. Marcus wrenched his head around and watched, helpless, as the chair became engulfed in flames.

"Let me guess. Yet another tradition of yours," he sighed.

"Not a Trikru one. This has Azgeda all over it," Lexa corrected and threw a pointed look at Roan, who was clinging to Bellamy and laughing, pointing at the piece of furniture on fire like it was the funniest thing in the whole world. "It is very important to their people that the groom and the bride only share one chair."

"Are we honestly going to do every single tradition of each clan?"

Lexa offered no answer, just cast him a sympathetic look which was discredited by a hint of amusement in her eyes. 

"Did you guys see that?" Raven giggled as she stumbled to them, clearly having had too much of the grounder wine. "I swear, this night just keeps getting better and better. Abby's expression is going to be priceless when she comes back."

Clarke did not share the sentiment. She covered her face with her hands and groaned. "I feel so bad for mom."

Lexa laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I promise, our own ceremony is not going to be like this, I have arranged a much more private—"

She clamped her mouth shut, her eyes growing wide at the realization of what she had just revealed.

A silence.

"Did I just witness a proposal?" Raven snorted.

"I didn't— that was not—" Lexa tried.

It was very uncomfortable for Marcus to witness how the Commander turned into a stuttering, flustered mess in front of gaping Clarke. He felt the need to retreat, and tugged on Raven's sleeve, making it clear to the girl that she should also give those two some privacy.

He turned to leave Lexa sputter explanations at Clarke and saw Abby watching her missing seat in puzzlement, two wine cups in her hands. Marcus rushed over to her.

"Where's my chair?" was her first obvious question. 

"It fell victim to an Azgeda tradition" he explained. Abby's eyes followed his gaze to the bonfire where the piece of furniture was burning. 

"I don’t even want to ask," she said. 

"I'll get you a new one, just wait a moment."

He turned around just to face Lincoln who had materialized in front of him like the infuriatingly helpful grounder consultant he was. "I'm afraid you will offend a lot of people if you do that."

" _Of course_ ," Marcus muttered through gritted teeth. "What is Abby supposed to do, sit in my lap?"

Lincoln nodded.

Marcus pinched his eyes shut. He wasn't sure why he had asked.

He turned to Abby. "I can stand, you take the chair."

"That would look odd."

"Just let her sit on your lap, it can't possibly be that difficult," Lincoln said. The look Marcus gave him made the man swiftly retreat from the conversation. "I'm going to go find Octavia."

Marcus and Abby were left standing with the lone chair between them. 

"Maybe this a chance to up our game," Abby said, lowering the cups onto the table.

"What do you mean?" Marcus asked as she approached him with a strange gleam in her eyes.

"It's not like it can get anymore awkward than this. We can either stand here like idiots and blow our cover or we might as well as go full in. We could make even Reghan regret for not believing you."

Before he could even form a response she had already pulled him in down on the chair. She climbed onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck with a smirk on her face. She slowly laid her lips on the corner of his mouth, causing blood rush out of his head. 

"Abby," Marcus tried, but he quickly closed his mouth and eyes as she started to pepper tiny, torturous kisses along his jawline. She brought her lips near his ear. "Let them wonder what I'm whispering to you."

Marcus shivered. "Maybe something about our wedding night", she continued, her hands sliding down from his nape until they rested on his chest. She pressed her mouth against his neck and he had to restrain himself from touching her, from pulling her closer and capturing her lips. He knew that even pretending to answer with equal enthusiasm would most likely just stoke the fire which had started to burn in his lower region.

His situation was getting more and more awkward as Abby's hands and mouth continued to wander. Abby shifted her weight in his lap, pressing just against the bulge in his pants, making him bite back a groan. She had the sense to back away, eyes flying wide at the realization. 

"I think we’ve convinced them," she said, averting her eyes from his, as a blush crept up her cheeks.

"I think so too," Marcus said, noticing everyone's eyes were on them. Most of the guests looked amused at their sudden loss of control, but he didn’t know about Skaikru since he refused to look anyone he knew in the eye. Especially not Clarke who probably still had her dagger.

Abby kept herself firmly on his knee from that moment onwards.

* * *

As the night went on and more and more wine flowed down Marcus' throat, he started to realize that his attitude about the wedding had been completely wrong. This was supposed to be a light and easy mission, not an embarrassing and awkward ordeal as such he had so firmly treated it the whole day. 

 _We're just a pair of friends having fun,_  Marcus thought as he blew a errant strand of hair off Abby's forehead and earned himself a laugh from the flushed woman. Maybe she was a little drunk, but so was Marcus. 

Alcohol certainly helped him grow more comfortable about having Abby in his lap, making him even forgot the embarrassing incident earlier. After a while it started to feel even natural to feel her warmth in his arms and Marcus fleetingly wished she would start kissing him again. He quickly disregarded the thought as tipsy confusion.

People had started gathering around their table with questions. At first it had been difficult to make up convincing answers but slowly they started to feel more at ease pretending. After all, it was not very difficult to caress Abby's curls with lazy strokes as she rested her head on the crook of his neck, while listening to the amusing inquiries of the guests.

"Are you ever going to make him shave that beard?"

Abby laughed, brushing her lips against his jaw. "Never. I like the way it tickles my lips far too much." She smirked at his flustered expression. 

"What is the most beautiful feature of your bride?" someone asked Marcus. 

"Her eyes," Marcus said without hesitation. "Especially when she smiles." Abby pressed her face against his neck in order to hide her embarrassment, which made Marcus grin. 

They were trying to best each other at inventing answers that would embarrass the other the most. It was their little game to make the night more tolerable, and Marcus was actually enjoying himself quite a lot as he kept teasing Abby. 

"What is the most romantic gesture he has ever done?"

"One time he serenaded me," Abby said with a devilish glint in her eye. "The whole night until his voice broke." Marcus fought back a grimace. 

He couldn't let Abby win. He waited for the next curious voice, hoping for something that would give him the opportunity to turn Abby red.

"Are you thinking of having kids? Because it's definitely not too late for you," an older woman asked. 

Marcus tensed. He definitely hadn't expected that question, and found himself unable to answer. Abby stiffened in his arms as well.

The look in her eyes was unreadable as she uttered a faint "yes". 

Marcus couldn't help but be a little stupefied at her answer. He wondered if this wasn't a part of the act, but rather a genuine confession. There was a twinge of wistful pain in his chest as he thought about what he would've answered. He had never thought that he would have children, even though the idea of having a daughter had crossed his mind on occasion. But perhaps Abby could still have another child if she found someone worthy to raise one with her. Marcus hoped she would. 

The light mood of their game was shattered as Abby looked away from him, and sobered Marcus started to wonder how much of the night was left to endure. 

"I have a question too," said a familiar voice. 

Marcus looked up and saw Reghan.

He had been wondering where the prince had been the whole night. Probably enjoying the show from his place in the shadows while coming up with a perfect way to torture them even more. 

Marcus saw Abby's eyes squint at the sight of the prince, and he found himself tightening his grip on her waist, pulling her closer to him in a protective gesture.

"I want to know how exactly did you manage to win this woman?" he asked.

"I am dying to know too," some man muttered, earning a glare from his wife. 

In hindsight Marcus realized that maybe he and Abby should've decided together on the story of their relationship. They hadn't thought about that part of their little act at all. 

"That's a long story," he tried, as he felt Abby nervously shift in his lap. 

"We have all the time in the world to hear your story," Reghan grinned. "Don't we?"

"Speech!" somebody yelled.

"Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!" people started chanting much to Marcus' discomfort. 

"Speech!" a feminine voice called, sounding suspiciously a lot like someone he knew. Marcus looked up and saw Raven ducking her head. He furrowed his brow.

Marcus' gaze swept over the other delinquents and they all looked entertained, leaning forward in anticipation of his reply. 

 _At least somebody is having fun_ , he thought bitterly. 

Abby shot him a tiny panicked look and Marcus offered her a reassuring smile. _I've got this._

He lifted Abby off his lap, letting her sit in their chair. He stood up, a wine glass in his hands, the gears in his heads quickly turning as he thought about what he was going to say.

His eyes found the commander's table. Clarke was smirking at him, but sitting as far as she could from Lexa. Apparently the pair hadn't quite recovered from their incident earlier. The commander had shut her eyes, as if she was bracing herself. 

Marcus was a little offended by her lack of faith in him.

Although, the last time he had had to give a wedding speech was at Jake's wedding where he had stood nervously in front of everyone, not finding better words than clumsy comparisons between well-reserved Ark can food and the love of the wedded couple. Jake had pulled him down before he had moved onto even worse analogies while Abby had laughed into her napkin. 

Now he was in a similar situation, everyone's expectant eyes making the collar of his jacket a feel little bit too tight. But instead of a faded Ark wedding dress Abby was wearing a tailored gown, Marcus' ring in her finger, and Jake was gone. The thought made a guilty lump form in his throat.

He started with a faltering voice. 

"When I first met Abby, she was engaged to my best friend, and I didn't like her at all."

Immediately there were chuckles from the audience. The interest in the story practically shone from the faces of the people around him and Abby, and Marcus found a little bit of confidence to continue. 

"One factor of my dislike was the fact she had been kept a secret by my friend Jake until the very moment he told me he had proposed to her. The second factor was that the very first thing she said to me was criticism of my choice of a pin that marked my vote for a certain candidate in our election. It wasn't enough for her to become the wife of my best friend, she was appointed with me to the council a few years later to fight me on all of my suggestions."

Marcus took a brief pause to explain what election and council meant in Trigedasleng while Abby watched him, impressed.

"She truly drove me up the wall," Marcus chuckled, and some members of audience answered with their own little laughs. 

This was going well.

"But secretly we grew quite fond of each other through Jake. I would have never admitted it to her, but I actually started to like her stubborness, and all of her other endearing qualities. Maybe too much."

Marcus tone turned more somber. 

"I kept my distance from her after that realization, and from Jake too. I drifted away from my old friends, and started to spend time under the influence of new ones, all the while slowly becoming occupied with my twisted ideals.

Then Jake died. The following year was the bleakest of my life. I made horrible decisions, causing her and others unimaginable pain. I had become blinded by my own sense of justice. I even saw Abby as my enemy, someone that was standing in the way of progress. But eventually I did something so wrong that I realized what I had become. 

All the guilt of my actions crashed down on me at once. 

I repented, tried to atone for my sins by trying to sacrifice myself, but that was not enough. My past still caught up with me no matter hard I tried to move past it. I felt as if I didn't deserve to live after what I had done. 

But little by little Abby saved me. She made me see that I could be a better man. I started waking up every morning thinking of Abby, and going to bed with only her in my mind. 'How could I be the man she would respect?' I asked myself repeatedly. As the months went on and I kept working hard to be a good leader, she had by some sort of a miracle become my friend. But to me she was already something more. 

The way she made me feel is hard to explain. Seeing her face was like hearing the first note of your favorite melody, being with her made me intoxicated like wine. Just thinking of her made me smile like a drunken fool."

Marcus was pleased to discover how little effort it took for the words to pour out. He no longer knew why he had been so worried, everything from his mouth came out delightfully fast and it seemed as if the audience was buying every single word. 

He continued. "I had fallen in love with her. 

How could I've not? She was perfect.

I think the first thing I loved was her spirit. She never gave up on her fight for what she though was right. And god, she was right every single time and I just couldn't realize. She was also unbelievably brave. She would defy even the gods if they stood between her and her daughter. And the kindness she had for others was immeasurable. Even after the hardest of days she would spare a soft smile for anyone, even for me, the man least deserving of her warm gaze. 

In my opinion she was the most wonderful person to ever graze the ground. And also the most beautiful, enchanting woman I had ever known.

I loved her twinkling eyes, I loved her golden brown curls, I loved the sound of her voice, I loved her laughter, I loved her dimples, I loved the lines in the corners of her eyes, the freckles on her chest, I loved even the way her brow creased and her mouth twisted into a frown. I simply loved everything about her.

But I could never deserve her, not even in my wildest dreams. She was a woman I could only dream of having. She would never consider me in that way, not after everything I had done to her.

I found myself waiting for little moments with her, hoping that maybe that day our fingers would brush, or that I could see her smile, or hear the tinkling melody of her laughter. That was all I was allowed to get, I convinced myself. But still I yearned for more and at the same time cursed my selfishness. 

Nothing could've stopped the hope that was secretly growing in my heart. Sometimes when I looked at her, I saw a flicker of something far too tender to direct for a friend, but I never dared to presume anything. 

But one day, one beautiful day it all changed.

She coaxed me to go find some sort of special herb for the medical ointments she was trying to produce. Truth to be told, there was little need for coaxing, I would've accompanied her everywhere just to be near her. We spent the whole day floundering in the bushes until the night darkened and these beautiful blue flowers started glowing all around us. She looked at me with so much wonder in her eyes that it felt like my heart would overflow from my love for her.”

This part Marcus was not making up. They had actually went on a unsuccessful trip for herbs and found themselves surrounded by a glowing forest. He had also felt some sort of a strange burst of feelings when he had looked at Abby, but that had been only deep, friendly affection mixed with pleasure from a finding such a beautiful spot in the forests. The moment was a great romantic addition to the speech he was weaving so he decided to use it.

"I couldn't help it. She looked so beautiful in the glow of the forest, her eyes shining with joy, the strands of her hair swaying in the gentle evening wind, and her mouth set in the loveliest of smiles. So I told her everything I felt and opened my heart to her completely. Some god must have smiled upon me because she felt the exact same way. She whispered me those three words and I was filled with unbearable happiness. We kissed for the first time in those woods."

He decided to not reveal any more to the audience, wanting to keep them in suspense from more intimate details like a real groom. But Marcus could picture how it would've gone.

Abby would've said something to give him enough hope to lay his hand on her cheek. He would've slowly slipped his other hand to her hair and brought her face closer. He would've asked for permission. Abby would've given him a gentle nod, encouraging him to lean forward and heir lips would've met. And her taste, her scent and her warmth would've overwhelmed him and wiped his mind blank. 

 _At least in the universe of my speech_ , Marcus thought and took a big gulp of wine. He surveyed the audience with his gaze to see how he was doing. Lexa's brow had shot almost up to her hairline and she had an impressed smile on her lips. Clarke had covered her mouth with her hand and the rest of the delinquents were staring at him, their eyes wide. Even Reghan's mouth had fallen open. 

"It didn't take long for me to propose her after that night. It was useless to wait since we both knew that we never wanted to be apart again. And that's the story of why I'm here today, married to the love of my life. To my dream, my hope, my light in the darkness."

He laid his eyes on Abby and put on his broadest smile.

"I love you."

He paused. Marcus had thought it would be harder to choke that out, that the words would stick in his throat a little bit more. He had always had trouble saying those words, even to his own mother. And yet, they tumbled from his mouth with almost no prompting, causing his stomach to twist nervously.

"I love you," he repeated to her, his voice this time a little weaker as his smile faded. 

He was consumed by a strange sensation of finding nothing more to say. He had been talking for what felt like hours with ease, after all. There's was an alarm going off in his head about something, Marcus was not quite sure about what, but it somehow had to do with how easy it had been to keep going with his speech.

Abby was watching him with her big brown eyes, her mouth agape, looking completely speechless. Seeing her so startled made him want to offer some sort of a consolation that he was just pretending. He opened his mouth.

Nothing came out. 

It hit him like a lightning, an electric force surging through his body and leaving him shaky and breathless. He had to clutch the cup in his hand as if it was the only thing in the whole world offering him support. He could think of nothing else than the fact that no matter how diligently he mulled over the things he had just said, sampled the words in his mouth, he suddenly couldn’t a single trace of a lie in them. 

The magnitude of the realization almost crushed him. 

_Every single one of his words had come straight from his heart._

He was in love with Abby. He was truly, deeply, irrevocably in love with her. The very woman he had the least right to ever fall for, the one person he had never allowed himself to even hypothetically consider.

And what was worse, he had loved her from the very moment he had first seen her. He had loved her through all these years without her knowing. 

He clenched his jaw. 

He had been a moron, a selfish bastard. 

Now he understood. This is why he had always sought her company, why he had always tried to make her smile and laugh, why the memory of her kiss never left his mind, and why he could barely avert his eyes from her bare skin. Why the words in his speech had come so naturally.

He turned his gaze away. He couldn't look anywhere near her, he was so ashamed of what he had let happen. He had been so careful with their tentative friendship, not realizing that he should have been more careful with his own scheming heart instead. He should've never even tried to pursue something akin to companionship with her. It had been foolish for him to expect that he could spend that much time with her and be able to keep himself in denial of his feelings until the end of time. 

Now he had spilled all of his feelings publicly, even revealed some deep-hidden fantasy of how they could've gotten together. She had to be horrified. 

Marcus looked up, realizing that the crowd was eagerly waiting for some sort of a culmination for his story. 

"I'm the luckiest man in the world," he muttered.

He lowered his cup. 

"Excuse me." 

He walked away from the table. He walked away from the crowd, not caring if every single pair of eyes was directed at his back. 

He walked away from Abby, not allowing himself one last look at her.


	6. The simplest mission in the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus struggles to recover from his violent surge out of denial. Lexa gets enough of the disaster that is the Kane-Griffin wedding. Marcus has a thick skull and Abby experiences a bitter disappointment. An argument ensues. Indra witnesses something unsurprising.

Lexa wasn't having a good night.

First she had accidentally blurted to her girlfriend that she planned to marry her, and then she had had to convince her that she didn't actually have such intentions, making Clarke visibly upset and ruining Lexa's plans to propose to her somewhere in the near future. Then Kane had decided to have something that looked awfully lot like a love epiphany at the worst possible moment. The speech had been going so well before that, even Reghan had looked like he was actually considering the fact that he might have been wrong. But then Kane had ran off like a coward, and now Lexa either had to sit in her place and wait for the guests to start wondering where the hell he had disappeared to, or she could go after him and drag him back. She decided on the latter. 

Lexa passed Abby, who was sitting at the table looking rather dazed, an empty look in her eyes and her face pale. Lexa couldn't blame her, that speech had truly been something else. At first she had been pleased that Marcus had spoken straight from his heart, but apparently that had been too much to handle for both of those fools. She needed to fix the situation as soon as possible before Reghan would start to raise the doubts of the wedding guests. 

She found Kane in the gardens, pacing in a tight circle, his eyes closed and hand clamped over his mouth. It was amusing that the man who had been so stone-faced and dignified during the peace negotiations was reduced to this mess just because of a woman. 

Marcus turned his head, noticing Lexa approaching him. "I can't do this," he immediately said.

Lexa sighed. "Of course you can. Let's get you back before people start asking questions."

"You don't understand. I love her." Marcus let out a strangled sound. "More than anything."

Lexa attempted an understanding smile.

"Yes, and I'm sure she feels the same way. Could you now please return to your seat?" 

"I can't go back there and let her sit in my lap, coo in my ear and kiss my jaw when she doesn't know that I’m no longer pretending. I won't take advantage of her like that."

"Is this about the chair? I can get Abby a new one, it's a foolish tradition anyway. Just please come back to the feast," she pleaded.

"You aren’t listening to me!"

After gaining Lexa's full attention the man sighed, before slumping against a tree. 

"Abby thinks of me as her friend, nothing more. She'd be horrified if she knew that every kiss, every little touch had been from a man who was secretly in love with her the whole time. I can't keep up the charade. I need to get away from her."

"Have you considered that she may love you back?" Lexa suggested, fighting the urge to throttle the idiotic man.

"How could she love me? I've caused her so much pain and tears in the past it's a wonder how she can even stand the sight of me. Any other man in the world would deserve her more than me." Marcus buried his face in his hands. "God, why did I let this happen?"

Lexa pinched her eyes shut and let out a deep sigh. "Kane, I don't _care_ whether Abby will loathe you for this. You're going to get your ass back in that chair and sit there tight, until _I_ give you permission to leave. Then, and only then you are free to go and avoid her forever— you aren't listening to a word I'm saying, are you?"

It was like talking to a wall. Marcus' gaze was hazy, his mind undoubtedly occupied with Abby and only her. 

Lexa pondered her options. It was useless to argue with a man in love so she wouldn't even try. Perhaps she could tell the others that he had gone on some romantic venture, fetching Abby a feather of a songbird or the leaf from the highest tree to prove his love for her. Not the most plausible explanation for those who had seen his aghast face before he escaped, but most of the guests were already hopelessly drunk so they would believe anything. 

And Marcus would come to his senses sooner or later, when his initial shock of surging out of his deep denial had passed. Lexa had enough trust in him that he wouldn't jeopardize the whole peace because of one woman. 

Lexa really  _hoped_ he wouldn't jeopardize the whole peace because of one woman. 

She would give him half an hour to get over this. Then she would send Indra and her sword for him.

* * *

It was strange how people around Abby were able to eat, drink and laugh, as if their whole world had not just been dramatically altered just a few moments ago. All she was able to do was to sit in her chair and stare into the empty space in front of her.

Abby felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Her hands were gripping the the armrests so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She didn't even care that she didn't look like a happy bride anymore. How could she even pretend to be calm and content when Marcus had just dropped that bomb on her and ran away? 

Abby cursed him for doing this to her. How had he expected her to react, other than gape at him in shock after weaving that story? And now he was gone, and Abby had no way of knowing what he had meant with the speech. 

Her mind kept leaping between two options. Either this was all part of the game, some sort of a brilliant scheme by Marcus to throw Reghan off the loop (of which Abby would've preferred to have been informed beforehand). Or the more unimaginable option, this was a sincere confession of feelings. 

_Marcus could love her._

Inexplicably, bewilderingly, the thought made her heart almost drive out of her chest. 

She didn't know what to do with this newly-discovered feeling. It was Marcus she was thinking of, after all. Her dearest friend, but nothing more. 

But slowly as his speech had gone on, her chest had filled with more and more lovely bubbles until she had been about to burst from an unidentifiable, overwhelming emotion. She had tried to convince herself that Marcus was just acting, but she couldn't help but shiver at every word of pure adoration. And when he had finished, the magnitude of his speech had crashed down on her, leaving her breathless and her head filled unimaginable possibilities that were far from platonic. 

She pinched her eyes shut. _Get a grip, woman._ It was just an act. 

_Just an act. Just act. Just an act. Just an act. Just an act. Just an act. Just an act._

But chanting just made the ache in her heart worse. God, who did she want so badly his words to be true? 

The realization came to her like a warm wave crashing to the shore, slowly and gently, as if she had already known deep inside of her.

She loved him. 

It all made sense. Why she had fervently wished that he would ask her to dance the night of the peace celebration. Why she had slipped his flower in her ring hoping he would be touched. How the woman mistaking her as his wife had made her flustered. Or even why her heart had pounded so much when Clarke had questioned her. 

She must have been acting like a lovesick fool for weeks without noticing, laughing at his jokes a little too eagerly, brushing his arm far too often for it to be an accident, studying his handsome features when she thought nobody hadn't been looking.

Her cheeks flared from the embarrassment. 

Everyone else must have known except for her.

Since she had already been in love once, Abby had thought she would recognize if that ever happened to her again. But this revelation had taken her completely by surprise, just as Marcus had surprised her by turning into the wonderful man he was today.

When she now thought about it with the new-found clarity of mind, it was undeniably true. She loved him. She loved his heart that was so big and full of love that he could barely carry its weight. She loved his beautiful mind that was always trying to find the way out of the darkness. She loved his words, his always so sincere words filled with so much conviction and passion for peace. She loved his eyes that were full of pure wonder every time he learned something new about life on earth. She loved his smile, the special smile he only had on when he was with her, when the worried lines of his face would disappear and he would radiate happiness. 

She loved him so much she could barely breathe.

And every second she wasn't sure if her feelings were reciprocated was pure torture. But how could Marcus have been lying? Every single of his words had sounded so sincere, and so beautiful, and together they were the loveliest symphony she had ever heard. She wished she could listen to it over and over again.

She looked up and saw that Clarke was looking at her, a worried expression on her face. Abby attempted a reassuring smile, but failed. She was too pained by uncertainty.

When her daughter averted her gaze, Abby rose from her table. Without anyone noticing, she slipped away from the feast. She found herself marching towards the garden, with only one question in her mind.

_Was it true?_

* * *

After returning from the garden, Lexa seated herself down at her table. Immediately she was met with Clarke's questioning stare. 

"I talked to Kane," Lexa said and forced a smile on her face. 

"And?"

She took a sip of her wine, trying to act as nonchalant as she could. "He said he couldn't do this anymore."

Clarke's eyes widened in panic.

"Just keep smiling, ai niron," Lexa said through gritted teeth. "We cannot let them think that something is wrong."

"But—"

"I'm sure Kane will come to his senses, we just need to wait a little while and let him calm himself down. He knows how important this is."

"So there's nothing we can do?"

"You could go talk to your mother. The last time I saw her she looked miserable enough to down a whole barrel of wine."

Clarke grew silent for a moment.

"We have a problem," she whispered. 

Lexa lifted her eyes and saw that Abby's seat was empty.

_Great. Just great._

Lexa lowered her gaze back on her plate. "Those two are not making my job any easier," she hissed. 

"Mom probably went after Kane. Maybe they'll talk it out."

"I would not be surprised if that would end up making the situation worse."

"We have another problem," Clarke stammered. Lexa did not even need to look up to know that the prince was approaching their table. Instead, she turned her attention to the food in front of her and started to dine in peace.

"Heda," Reghan nodded. Lexa mirrored the gesture, muttering his name. 

"I saw the groom running off earlier, is everything alright?" the bastard immediately asked.

Lexa let the prince wait while she chewed her food as slowly as possible. After swallowing, she answered. "Everything is more than alright, for him at least. I just saw the bride going after him to the garden. They are undoubtedly enjoying some alone time."

Lexa could see that Reghan didn't buy a thing from what she had said. The man had pursed his lips, his forehead wrinkled in displeasure. Then a smirk started slowly consuming his face.

"I'll send the maids for the sheets the first thing in the morning," he stated, as if it was the most natural action to take. 

Lexa's fork stopped halfway into her mouth.

"I suppose that's not going to be a problem?" Reghan continued. Lexa lowered her fork, and picked up her napkin slowly, her face stony. She took her time wiping her mouth. Finally, she lifted her head and offered him a dry smile. "Not at all."

"I'm sure I'll have nothing to concern myself with. It's just a precaution. It would a shame if my generosity has been exploited, as unlikely it may be."

Lexa kept the smile firmly fixed on her face. "I'm sorry you feel the need the do that. The Chancellor and his wife have been nothing but grateful, and may I say, quite eager to retreat to their quarters already."

Reghan was clearly fighting the urge to roll his eyes. 

"Very well then. We'll see in the morning and discuss the success of the wedding."

Lexa supposed that was Reghan's way of saying that he would be marching down to her quarters with full gear on if the situation with the sheets was not satisfactory, which would most likely be the case. 

"We'll see in the morning," Lexa said. She would be waiting for him with her sword.

They exchanged final looks of contempt before Reghan turned to leave.

The moment the prince had left Clarke shot her a confused look. 

"What the hell was that?"

Lexa avoided looking at her. "How do I put this? Reghan is going to have his healers examine the sheets to see if your mother and Kane have — _ahem_ — been intimate. If not a single drop of dried semen is found tomorrow, he has yet another good reason to claim that the whole wedding has been staged. In other words, we're doomed."

Clarke's expression turned aghast. "We need to do something!" 

The familiar crease in her forehead started carving up as she noticed that Lexa had resumed enjoying her meal. "How can you just keep eating?" 

"I don't understand what you expect me to do," she sighed, lowering her cutlery. "Should I order them to consummate the marriage?"

"No!" Clarke said quickly, her cheeks flaring up. "But there has to be some other way."

Lexa just shook her head, and threw her napkin on the table. "I give up. I have done everything in power to make this work, but your thick-headed Chancellor and your mother have made it impossible. I'm going to finish this meal, retreat to my quarters, then go straight to bed and wipe my whole mind clean of these past two days. You are free to join me if you want."

"You can't just let this be!"

"There's nothing I can do for them at this point. If they decide to sleep together, then they sleep together, none of my business. But if they don't, let Reghan start his war. I have always wanted to have an excuse to put his head on a pike, anyway."

"Lexa!" 

Same old Clarke, always so fuming when there was even the tiniest suggestion of an armed conflict. She was glaring at Lexa as if she expected her to magically fix everything. But she couldn't, not this time. It all depended on Kane and Abby.

"Don't look so sullen, ai niron. Who knows, maybe your mother and Kane will figure something out. Don't you worry."

Clarke's expression relaxed slightly. She seemed reassured by her words, but Lexa had little to no hope for those two.

Lexa shifted her gaze at crowd when the musicians started to play the last dance of the night. People gathered together dance, their voices full of laughter and merriment, so unaware of the potential threat Reghan posed. _They all could be dead tomorrow_ , she thought gloomily.

She let out a deep sigh and downed a cup of wine. After slamming the cup down, she turned to Clarke. "Do you want to dance?" 

The girl's brow shot up at her words. Lexa bit back an explanation for her sudden willingness to partake in that unpleasant pastime.

_It's the last day of peace, after all. I might as well try to make you enjoy it._

* * *

After searching through the gardens Abby eventually found Marcus. He was standing there, rubbing his face with his hand, a pained expression on his face. He didn't notice her at first which gave Abby time to arrange the errant strands of her hair behind her ear, suddenly nervous. 

"Marcus?" Abby asked tentatively and saw the man flinch.

"Abby," he breathed, turning around. He was genuinely stunned to see her. For a moment it seemed like he would go to her, taking a step forward, but at the last second he halted, deciding to keep the distance between them. 

"I— I was worried when you stayed away. I didn’t know where you went to," she said. 

"Ah," was his simple answer.

Marcus looked particularly handsome in the moonlight, and Abby found herself shifting her gaze at the ground instead of his face. God, since when just talking with him made her so insecure?

 _Since you realized you loved him_ , said the annoying voice inside her head. 

"There was no need for worry. I was just here, enjoying the garden," he stammered. 

"It's a beautiful garden," Abby said quickly.

"Yes it is," Marcus said even more quickly. 

He looked like he wanted to say something else but closed his mouth. Abby found herself unable to speak too, even though she had her question burning at the tip of her tongue.

_Was it true?_

She was desperate to get the answer, almost so much that she was ready to grab him by the shoulders and shake it out of him. As the silence continued, she bit her lip, her fingers starting to fiddle with her hair again. Abby wanted him to stop staring at her in that mysterious, agonizing way and just open his mouth and tell her what she wanted to hear. 

Then she noticed that a flower from her hair had fallen to droop over her cheek as she had nervously sorted out her locks.

"You have a little—" he said, reaching out.

The moment Marcus' fingers touched her skin Abby let out a soft gasp. It rang out so feminine and vulnerable that Abby had to take a step backwards, hoping that the darkness of the garden would conceal her flaming cheeks.

Marcus swallowed hard at her reaction, snatching his hand away and lowering his gaze.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Abby said, bringing her hand to the spot he had brushed. Somehow that little innocent touch made her burn more than all the kisses and caresses in front of the audience. She wanted to grab his hand and press his palm against her cheek again, just to feel that warmth rush through her body once more. Abby wondered how he'd react if she did that.

Or what he'd say if she told him how much she loved him.

There was a tiny flicker of something in his eyes when he looked at Abby that gave her hope. Abby felt fluttering in her stomach at his gaze. It seemed as if he was watching her like she was something special to him, but that could've easily been just the trick of her mind.

She needed to know.

"Why did you run off?" she asked, rather bluntly. There was no need for postponing this conversation any longer, this was after all exactly why she had sought him out.

Marcus hesitated.

"I just needed a little time to breathe."

"Yeah, you talked for a long time," Abby said tentatively.

"I got a bit carried away," Marcus said, rubbing his neck. "But it was a good speech, wasn't it? It was little something I made up as I went."

"Yes, that was definitely some good improvisation. You're not usually good at that."

"I'm not?" Marcus took a defensive stance. "I guess I just proved you wrong there. I'm excellent at improvisation."

"Yes, you are. That speech looked almost effortless."

"It wasn't," he said quickly. "It was hard to keep going for so long. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do."

"I thought you were excellent at improvisation," Abby said, annoyed.

"Sometimes it's harder than usually. Not— not that it would hard at all to pretend to love you. You're wonderful, you're the most perfect—"

He stopped, gulping.

She wouldn't get answers from him this way, the man seemed to switch his attitude towards his speech every other sentence. But she didn't dare to ask her question directly. She was too afraid that the answer wouldn't be what she so hoped for.

Both of them just gazed at each other, too nervous to say another word.

The complete silence was broken when they heard faint music streaming to the garden. The melody was soft, so impossibly so that Abby found herself closing her eyes for a moment, letting herself escape from the awkwardness to a far more pleasant world two days ago when Marcus had held her while something similar played.

"It must be the last dance," she remarked. "It's getting late and the music is slow, and so beautiful."

"We didn't dance once, did we?" Marcus let out a throaty chuckle. "I was quite sure that it was on Lexa's checklist, but I guess it doesn't matter since it seems that I've already failed everything else."

"We could still dance," Abby said quickly.

Marcus' eyes widened at her words.

"You owe me one, remember? At the night of the celebration before Reghan interrupted us, we were dancing but we never got to finish."

"I'm not so sure if that's a good idea," he whispered.

"Why not?" Abby asked, taking a step closer.

Marcus looked like a frightened animal in front of her, and Abby was not sure if it was because he felt uncomfortable with the tension between them about the speech, or if he just disliked the idea of dancing with _her_.

But he had been so sweet and gentle with her the last time they had danced. There had to be at least a small part of him that wanted this, wanted her.

She wound her arms around his neck. "Just a friendly little dance."

Marcus tensed, but as Abby lowered her head on his shoulder he softened, letting his arms wrap around her small body. But when Abby lifted her gaze to meet his, the look in his eyes was almost anguished. She smiled at him, hoping her warm expression would make him relax.  _There's nothing to fear._

A determined expression settled on his face, his hold on her growing firmer.  She let out a surprised little gasp when he began leading the dance with sure movements, quickly recognizing the steps of waltz. _He can actually dance_ , she realized, grinning at him, and to her surprise he attempted a small smirk back. Her smile faded when she wondered if Marcus had danced with a lot of other women before her, feeling a jealous twinge in her chest. She pushed back the thought and let herself be mesmerized by the feel of his arms around her.

After a while she had to close her eyes, feeling dizzy. She was not sure if the sensation was because of the swirling of the dance or because of the sprawling emotion in her chest that blossomed every time she caught a glimpse of the impossibly tender look in Marcus' eyes. It was like a dream, and Abby didn't dare to open her eyes in the fear of waking up to the real world.

Eventually their movements grew languid until they were only gently swaying to the music, until that faded away too. But Abby was not ready to let go yet. She sighed, burying her face in his chest, letting herself clung to him with the desperation of a drowning woman.

"Abby."

Her name spilled from Marcus' lips like a prayer.

"Please, just— don't talk."

If Marcus would keep quiet and hold her like this, then maybe, just for a moment, she could pretend that this was all real. That he really was her husband, that he really loved her as much as she loved him, and that he wanted to keep swaying with her until their feet would give up on them.

Abby lifted her head to press her cheeks against his. Marcus leaned into her, and she moved just enough that she could brush the corner of his mouth with her lips. After hearing him inhale, she slowly pressed a slow, soft kiss against his lips. For a moment Marcus melted into her touch, answering the kiss with endearing hesitancy, but then he grew rigid and unmoving beneath her lips. Suddenly Abby felt his hands grab her shoulders, and the man pushed her away.

"Let's save that for the audience."

He might as well slapped her in the face. Abby took a faltering step back, stunned at his expression. Marcus' face was stone cold, his jaw set tight. "You don't have to do this. There's nobody watching."

Abby couldn't breathe.

The horrible realization that Marcus had actually just been lying was starting to sink in, and it drilled a deep, painful pit into her stomach. Abby felt sick. 

She inwardly cursed herself. She had let herself believe that...

She had to look down, she couldn't meet his eyes, not after humiliating herself completely.

* * *

Marcus was trying to convince himself that he was doing the right thing.

It had been wrong to keep holding her like that, to feel her pressed against his chest, to smell the flowers woven into her hair all the while she had been unaware of the depth of his feelings, and of the fact that he wanted nothing more in the whole world than for her to make even the tiniest of gestures, a flicker in her eye or a hint of a smile playing across her lips, signalling to him that he could slide his hands to tangle in her curls and bring her lips to his.

But then she had brushed his mouth with hers, and he had realized how selfish of him it had been to wish for her kiss. Abby wasn't thinking straight, she had had far too much wine during their excruciating night and his speech had confused her. She would never kiss him in a normal situation, and Marcus wouldn't take advantage of her in this stage.

His reasoning didn't make it any easier to watch Abby's hurt expression.

"I'm an idiot," she muttered, gaze lowcast.

"Abby—"

She let out a strangled whimper. "I knew this wedding would ruin everything, I just knew it."

"What do you mean?"

"Forget it," she said, burying her face in her hands. "I shouldn't have kissed you, I'm sorry."

"It was just an act. You don't need to apologize for that."

Abby lifted her head, shooting him a strange look. "Just an act."

"Right."

"Like your speech was just an act?"

There it was, the question Marcus had been dreading.

If he told her that every word had been true, he'd risk losing her forever. But if he lied, he'd get to keep her, but not without suffering every day for the rest of his life having her so close but so out of reach.

"Yes," he answered. Her friendship was better than nothing and he was too weak.

Abby's shoulders visibly slumped, and her eyes became clouded. Marcus felt a jolt in his chest. Could it be...?

Then her face twisted into a bitter smile. "What an act it was," she chuckled dryly. "You went a little overboard, don't you think?"

"Lexa wanted us to be convincing."

"But it does not mean that you can go making those kind of speeches!" she snapped. There was something glistening in her eyes before she closed them, and turned her back at him. "Do you have any idea what it was like sitting there and listening to that? I felt like I was being slowly cooked alive."

Marcus snapped his eyes shut. Abby could not be more explicit about the fact that his feelings were not reciprocated. He had suspected so, but nothing had truly prepared him for the crushing confirmation. He released a deep breath, trying his hardest to ignore the feeling of his whole world crashing down into the pit of his stomach.

"It also doesn’t mean that you can just catch me off guard by kissing and touching me either," he shot back after a pause.

Abby wrenched her head around, a stunned look on her face. "What else did you expect? That's what couples do!

"Maybe we could have been one of those discreet couples. That's what I had in mind. I am sure that if we could have just planned a little better—"

"I am sorry, but becoming Mrs Kane was not exactly something I had marked on my calendar!" Abby growled out his surname in a way that felt like a stab.

Marcus' jaw tightened. "Nobody forced you to marry me," he said with a cool voice.

"Maybe I shouldn't have agreed. It's not like we made a difference, this whole wedding has been a disaster. "

"Are you blaming me for that?

"A little, yeah. Every time I so much as brushed you, you jumped five feet into the air!"

"Every time I told you were beautiful you blushed like a schoolgirl!"

Abby let out a brittle laugh. "Don't try to pretend that you weren't much worse than me." 

She took a step towards him, batting her lashes. She brought her hands up to cradle his face, pressing her chest against his, causing Marcus' heartbeat to quicken and the his breath to hitch. She leaned close and whispered "I love you."

His eyes flew open, and he found himself taking a step back. Abby rolled her eyes at his reaction.

"See! No wonder we failed the simplest mission in the world."

She let out a frustrated huff and tried to move away, but Marcus grabbed her hand.

He pulled her close to him, drawing a small gasp from her lips, before locking her gaze. "I love you too," he softly murmured to the woman in his arms.

Abby's cheeks immediately flushed crimson, and her mouth fell slightly open. Marcus flashed her a sardonic smile. "Look who's talking."

She wrenched herself free from his grip. "God, you're infuriating!" she said, backing away from him. "You probably enjoyed making me squirm with that speech."

"Just as much you enjoyed torturing me with your kisses."

Abby's gaze briefly flickered to his lips at the words, then quickly back to his eyes.

 _That had to be an accident_ , Marcus said to himself. But the sight had already made his mind hazy. He took an instinctive step towards her. 

"But you're the one who—" she huffed, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. She lifted her gaze, noticing that Marcus had bridged the gap between them. 

"What is this?" she murmured, her lashes wildly fluttering.

"You tell me," he said with a low voice, not being able to stop himself from inching even closer to her. Abby took a step back, and then another, until her back was pressed against a nearby tree and Marcus was standing right in front of her.  

They were so close Marcus could feel her breath flutter against his skin. His gaze wandered to her mouth, and stayed there. He felt a sudden urge to capture the pink plumpness of her lips between his teeth. It was too hard to resist Abby while she watched him with that dark gaze, her lips parted just a hint, her chest heaving.

Suddenly they heard rustling of the leaves, mixed in with the sound of approaching footsteps, breaking them out of their haze.

"Let me guess, one of Reghan's spies," Abby muttered.

"Or the man himself."

She sighed. "I am sick and tired of this."

"Don't you think I am too?" Marcus hissed, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.

They heard the sounds of somebody moving in the gardens again.

"The hell with it, let's give him a show."

Abby yanked at his lapels, clashing her lips against his, her violent urgency almost making him lose his footing. His back smashed against the tree and in an instant Abby's dainty body was pressed against his chest, and her mouth fused with his.

Marcus had barely time to recover from his surprise to clasp his arms around her and answer the kiss, when Abby had already opened her mouth with a sigh. Her intoxicating taste made him press her tighter against him, as if only even deeper, more fervent kiss would stifle the flames that had taken over his chest for having the yearned contact of Abby's lips against his again. He slipped her hands into her curls and locked her in his embrace. Not even gods could wrench this woman away from him now.

He knew he should stop, but he was too weak. Her mouth was heaven, and the feel of her hair between his fingers an inspiration for rhapsody. If their first kiss had been a sweet daydream, this kiss was a feverish dream of passion wiping his mind blank of everything, the wedding, the pretending, his unrequited feelings. His whole world was Abby's mouth moving against his and the taste of her tongue overwhelming all of his senses.

He couldn't help it. His hands wandered down her body to grasp at her skirts, uselessly clutching at the fabric as if enough efforts would make it disappear and allow him to caress the skin that had tempted him the whole night. Abby ground against him, emitting a deep hiss from his throat. Marcus swept her around, pushed her back against the bark of the tree and surged forward in a forceful kiss. He could feel Abby melting in his arms, sighing and mewling and if only he could get his lips everywhere on her body he could make her do those delicious noises all night.

Somebody cleared their throat.

They parted with a gasp, eyes wildly searching for the interrupter. To Marcus' horror, the very worst person to witness his dishevelled hair and swollen lips was now standing in front of them, watching them with amused eyes.

Indra.

"Mr and Mrs Kane," she nodded, not even bothering to hide her wry grin. "I just came to tell you that the feast has ended. You don't have to pretend anymore, although it seems that you didn't need me to tell you that."

"We thought you were the prince," Marcus tried to explain, his voice still a little breathless. Abby had buried her face in his chest, not even wanting to look at Indra.

"Whatever you say," she said and then sighed, shaking her head. "If only you had done that in front of the guests."

"So we didn't perform well enough?" Abby asked, peeking at her.

Indra looked at her for a long time, as if to determine whether the woman was joking or not, before shaking her head slowly at her.

Abby's face fell.

"Is there still something we can do to fix the situation?" Marcus asked quickly, releasing Abby from his arms.

Indra opened her mouth to answer, then decided against it. "The only thing left for you to do is retreat to your room. You have been given the biggest quarters in the chief's house. The walls are very thick, I've heard."

Marcus shot the woman a glare. "Good. Nothing will disturb our  _sleep_ then."

The corner of Indra's mouth tugged upwards. "Let's hope so. Oh, and one last tradition."

Marcus and Abby both furrowed their brow in annoyance.

"Don't let your bride's feet touch the ground when you retreat to your chambers," Indra instructed. When he saw their confused expressions she continued with a sigh. "In other words, carry her to your bed."

"Which clan has this tradition?" Marcus asked, irritated.

"Trikru," she said with a smirk, and turned to leave.

They were left alone to stare at each other in a heavy silence.

"So it's finally over," he said, watching Abby. 

Her cheeks were flushed, some strands of her honey brown hair escaped from her braid, her lips red from his kisses. The sight of her in this state made Marcus swallow hard, his hands itching to grab her, push her against the tree and continue where they left off. But he wouldn't. Never again. He had already allowed himself too much.

Marcus moved closer to her, but stopped immediately as he noticed Abby flinching.

 _I have frightened her,_ he realized. No wonder Abby was looking at him with those big scared eyes, he had acted as if Abby was his to kiss and touch and taken furious liberty in doing so. The moment her lips had touched his, desperation had consumed him and blinded him from his actions. Marcus felt shame flooding into his veins. 

"One last task," he said with a soft, reassuring voice. "I'll carry you to our room. Then I won't lay my hands on you again."

"Marcus—"

"I won't do that," he said firmly. "Never again."

Abby exhaled, then laid her eyes on the ground. "I— I understand."

Marcus waited until Abby gave him a slight nod before wrapping his arms around her tiny figure. She lifted her head as his hands came in contact with her body, her dark eyes full of unrecognizable emotion. Marcus had to force himself to avert his eyes and directed his gaze on the arc of her shoulder.  _Not better,_ he thought. Every part of her was so elegant, so beautiful that he didn't know where to let his gaze rest without being tempted to just confess how much he felt towards her.

Not allowing his gaze to linger on her one moment longer, he quickly lifted her up on his arms and let Abby clasp her arms around his neck. The woman settled her head on the crook of his neck and Marcus had to close his eyes. Maybe it was the perfect punishment for him, to carry he woman he loved to his bed while fully aware of the fact that he'd never be allowed more than that. 

As he carried Abby he was so acutely aware of the feel of having her in his arms that he had to focus all of his attention to the mere act of walking. So when she whispered something against his skin, Marcus couldn't quite make out the words. 

"What was that?" he murmured. 

Abby didn't offer him an answer, but after walking in silence for a while he felt something wet coating the skin of his neck.

He briefly wondered if it was a tear.

Maybe he just imagined it. 


	7. The wedding night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After receiving an alarming note from Reghan, Abby and Marcus consider how far they are willing to go with their charade.

Marcus kicked the door of their quarters open, swiftly entering with Abby still in his arms. The notion that he could have easily put her down the second he had crossed the threshold didn’t even enter his mind. After reaching the bed he tried to plop her down as fast as he could, but in his urgency, he didn't realize to actually release her from his arms. Instead, his body followed hers as he lowered her, causing his arms to be still wrapped firmly around her as Abby was laying on the bed, watching him with her unblinking brown eyes.

Marcus forced himself to release his arms from around her when he realized he was close enough to feel Abby's breath flutter against his skin.

As he took a step back from the bed, he noticed the dimness of the room as the only source of light were dozens of lit candles. The floor was covered with petals, as were the sheets Abby were lying on. She looked like an elemental part of the sea of flowers with her goddess-like appearance, causing Marcus to gulp.

"I'll take the floor," he announced.

At first, Abby didn't answer. She just laid on the bed, something deeply sorrowful etched on her features with her arms wrapped around herself. But as Marcus settled down on the floor with a thump and let his back lean against the wall, the woman looked up at him in irritation.

"It's a stone floor, Marcus. You won't be able to sleep on that."

But Marcus wasn't sure if he would able to sleep next to her either. The thought of having her so close would surely drive him mad as the night progressed. Besides, he barely trusted his self-control where Abby was concerned.

Surely the floor wouldn’t be so hard if he covered it with a blanket. Unfortunately, there weren’t any spare ones in the room, only one on the bed. With a heavy sigh, Marcus sat down while leaning against the wall. At least this way he could keep watch on Abby and make sure neither Reghan or one of his spies sneaked into the room during the middle of the night.

"You're being ridiculous," Abby said while rising from the bed until she stood in front of him with her arms crossed and brow furrowed.

"Go back to bed," Marcus murmured.

"Not without you. There's plenty of room for the both of us."

"I wouldn't want to—"

"Make me uncomfortable? I'm already as uncomfortable as a person can possibly get. Sleeping in the same bed with you will hardly make the situation worse."

With that said Abby grabbed his arm and coaxed him to stand up. She then led him back to the bed, while Marcus was unable to turn his eyes away from the alluring sight her bare back and the way her skirts moved along the floor. He felt so weak.

Abby sat on the edge of the bed and bent down to remove her shoes. After they fell to the floor with a soft clank Marcus forced himself to avert his gaze as she lifted her bare legs on the bed, and settled down. He could hear her turn around several times in an attempt to find a comfortable position while still wearing the dress. In the end, she simply slumped on the mattress and let out a frustrated huff.

"So I’m guessing that they didn't provide us any sleepwear?" Marcus asked.

"I think they expected us to sleep naked," Abby breathed. "Or not sleep at all."

He definitely didn't need that image in his head. Keeping his gaze firmly turned away from Abby, he settled down on the farthest point on the bed as possible while focusing his eyes on a far corner of the room. His hands rested next to his body as he clenched them into fists while inwardly ordering himself not to move an inch from this position during the night.

Marcus couldn't look at her, nor even bear hearing her soft exhales or how she shuffled in her position. He knew she couldn't be comfortable in the dress no matter how much she tried, and he prayed all the gods he knew that she wouldn't start to undress. Just the thought of her, naked and warm right next to him was enough to ignite a dangerous fire in his body he wouldn't have the strength to extinguish.

If the silence between them during the feast had been uncomfortable, this was suffocating. Marcus couldn't find a single thing to say that didn't betray how much he wanted her, or how excruciating he found this situation.

"We are not going to get much sleep tonight, are we?" Abby said in a faint voice.

It was a foregone conclusion that didn't bring comfort to either of them for having been uttered out loud. Marcus' eyes wandered the room, searching for any distraction from Abby's proximity. Then he found one tiny detail he hadn't noticed before.

There was a small, neatly folded piece of paper laying on a table near the bed. Abby's gaze followed his to the note. They both looked at it with wild eyes, shocked for having missed something. Abby was quicker than him and managed to jump up from the bed, snatch the paper and open it.

The woman quickly skimmed the lines written on the paper, before squinting her eyes and reading them again. After finishing, she lowered her hands, growing visibly pale.

"What does it say?"

Abby just shoved him the note in response, careful not to meet his gaze. Marcus set out the read it, a hint of fear coiling in his stomach.

_Dear newlyweds!_

_I hope you had an unforgettable night. It's been my honor to arrange this celebration of your true love. I will only keep you from each other's company for the time you take reading this small note. The breakfast will be served to the dining table of your quarters in the morning. A maid will come to clean up after you and make sure everything proceeded **accordingly.**_

_I hope you have an enjoyable wedding night._

_Yours sincerely_

_Prince Reghan of Broadleaf, son of Basilius the Great, Protector of the Eastern Clans, The Warrior of..._

Marcus scrunched up the paper in his hands, not bothering to read the rest of his titles.

"I think he wants us to—"Abby started, fumbling with a strand of her hair.

"Yeah," Marcus said, clenching his jaw. It was quite clear what he was forcing them to do. "Sadistic bastard."

How could it not be enough for him to see them make fools of themselves the whole wedding? What possible enjoyment would the man get from forcing them to consummate the marriage? Marcus was starting to regret not throttling him when he had the chance.

"I won't let him puppeteer us this time," he snarled, throwing the balled up paper into the corner.

He glanced at Abby who had grown unusually quiet. The woman was biting her lip, and her nervous expression unsettled Marcus.

"Of course we aren't going to—," he reassured her. "I would _never_ do that to you."

Abby's mouth twisted into a deep frown. "I understand," she said with a cool voice. "But what do you suggest that we do instead?

Marcus let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Nothing. I'll get someone to saddle you and Clarke horses and escort you safely back to Arkadia. I'll stay here and take care of this."

Abby blinked.

"So your plan is to get everyone killed," she said, a sharp edge in her voice.

"No, of course not. No one else needs to get hurt if I'm going to-"

He stopped when he saw Abby's darkening expression.

"What, Marcus? What are you going to do?" she asked, taking a furious step closer.

"I'm going to face the consequences of my actions," he said solemnly. "It is about time I did that."

"The hell you are," Abby answered, lower lip quivering.

With that said she had climbed back on the bed, her brown drawn into an angry knot. Her hands started fumbling with the laces on her back.

"What are you doing?"

"Undressing."

"Abby," he said sternly.

"I'm not just going to ride back into Arkadia and leave you here!" she exclaimed, still desperately trying to open the laces by herself. "This damn dress," she cursed in low voice.

"You don't have to do this."

"I do! I'm not going to let him kill you for the stupidest reason imaginable."

Marcus walked over to her, a protest ready on his lips, but the moment he was in reach Abby flung her head around, and before he could even react her hands had a tight hold of his face and her lips were pressed desperately against his.

She pressed urgent, clumsy kisses against his mouth, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't answer her kisses with the passion for her he kept locked up inside of him. He knew that the touch of her lips was not in earnest. Abby was desperate to protect him, and she wouldn't give up until they had completed this last, most excruciating task.

He laid his hands firmly on her shoulders, stilling her movements. Abby broke the kiss and looked up at him with pained eyes.

"Please, Marcus. For the peace, remember?"

Marcus did remember. They had agreed to go to the wedding in the garden and vowed not to let anything affect their relationship through a door in the dark of the night. But he had been such a fool then, believing that marrying Abby would be just a funny memory to look back at and laugh.

He wished he could go back, grab himself by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. Tell him that Abby is the best thing that will ever happen to him and he can’t ever ruin it by being idiotic enough to fall for her.

But it was too late, and now they were in this impossible situation, and he didn't know how to fix it. In a deep corner of his mind, Marcus knew that talking to Reghan or even getting speared by him wouldn't appease him. He could still end up declaring war.

With a sick pang in his chest, he realized their only choice was to do his bidding.

"For the peace," he repeated with a weak voice.

Abby nodded, an understanding fell between them. They had already gone this far. They might as well go one step further.

She turned her back on him.

"Can you help me?" she asked with a small voice. Marcus watched the creamy expanse of her back, freckles dancing on her skin like the stars in the night sky, and only felt a hollow feeling in his chest at the beautiful sight.

He was about to make love to Abby, but what should've been the fulfillment of his deepest, most secret wishes was going to be an agonizing procedure after which he could never look her in the eye again. Their friendship would be damaged beyond repair. He had convinced himself that he would never ask more than the precious, tentative friendship they had but now it was going to be taken away from him too and Marcus couldn't bear it. He never hated Reghan more than now.

He would at least be tender with her, express his love in gentle actions if not in words. He lowered himself on the bed and moved over to her. Abby let out the tiniest of exhales as she feels his breath on her skin, and Marcus lovingly hushes her.

"I'll be so gentle," he whispered and laid a soft kiss on her bare shoulder. Abby relaxed under his touch, and Marcus' gaze shifted to the laces. There they were, mocking him as if they knew how much he yearned to open them and see Abby in all of her beauty, but he would get to do that only in the cruelest of circumstances.

He kept pressing feather-light kisses on her back while he brushed the laces with his thumb. He waited for Abby's approval before he gingerly grasped the knot with his fingers. But instead, he heard a sound that was unmistakably a muffled sob. Marcus wrenched his hands away.

"Abby," he exhaled, horrified at what he had just heard. Before Abby could wipe her cheeks Marcus brushed his finger over them and caught a tear. It was like a punch in his guts and had to retreat as far as he could from Abby.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. I'll stop."

Abby wiped her hand over her eyes, and let out a tiny sniffle. "No, keep going. It's fine."

"It's not fine," Marcus said with a sharp voice, rising up from the bed. "I won't do this."

"Where are you going?" Abby asked with a weak voice when she saw him march towards the door.

"To confront Reghan," he said, reaching for the doorknob.

He was stopped by the hand wrapping around his arm. "Marcus, you can't." She had climbed out of the bed and hurried over to him before he had gotten a chance to leave. "He'll kill you."

"Not if I kill him first. This play has gone far enough, I won't force myself on you."

"You're not forcing anything on me!" Abby hissed. "I make my own decisions, and my decisions is to not let anyone die."

"And my decision is not to sleep with a woman who clearly doesn't want it."

"So you're just going to march to your death?" she spat out.

"I'm just doing what I should've done to begin with," he says with a dry voice, turning his back on her.

Her grip on his arm tightened.  "I won't let you."

"Abby," he sighed, trying to remove her hand, but she kept an almost desperate grip on him.

"For god's sake, Marcus, it's only sex!"

Marcus flung his head around. "If it's only sex, why do you weep when I touch you?"

When Abby only looked at him speechless, Marcus wrenched his hand free and wrapped his fingers around the doorknob. "Goodnight," he said curtly, cracking the door open.

"Because I didn't want it to be like this!" she cried out.

He halted dead in his tracks, and for a moment his heart stopped beating when he processed the words.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice throbbing with desperation, his feet moving towards Abby with a furious haste. Marcus stopped himself before got close enough to clutch at her shoulders and dig up the answer from her eyes, and settled instead to watch from afar how her eyes were directed abashed at the floor, a pink flush dancing on her cheeks.

"I meant that if I were to be with a man after Jake—"

"Any man?" he asked, surprising himself with the insistence of his voice. Abby snapped her head up, and there was something so fervent in her eyes when she met his gaze that Marcus found himself unable to breathe for a moment. She studied his expression carefully, almost pleadingly, and some tiny muscle of his face must have betrayed him because something akin to astonishment fell on her features. Then he saw her eyes soften and the most unthinkable happened.

She let out one word, one simple word that made Marcus' heart stop.

 "No."

Abby's lips curved fondly upwards at his stunned expression.

"Not just any man," she continued. "Oh Marcus, we've been so stupid this entire time."

There were a thousand questions on his lips, but they all died out when he saw Abby taking a step closer to him, shaking her head in a quiet laughter.

"Don't you have any guesses of who I mean?" she asked with something unfathomable spilling from her eyes, bringing her hand up to brush her thumb against his cheek. "Whisper in my ear."

Marcus turned his face away from her touch. "Abby, don't play this game with me, I know it can't be—”

This only made Abby take a firmer hold, both of her hands now cradling his face and turning him back until their gazes were locked again. "It was true, wasn't it?"

"Was what true?" he asked, his voice surprisingly shaky.

"All those things you said about me in your speech... did you mean them?" Abby asked, her voice barely audible in its caution.

Abby was watching him with so much vulnerability in her eyes that it seemed her whole world would depend on his answer. It could only mean one thing, and even the possibility was enough to make his heart split in half. Marcus felt a bit dizzy as he searched for confirmation in Abby's eyes.

 _It's you who I want,_ she said with the tender look in her eyes. _It's you who I love_ , she said with the shy curve of her lips. _Please tell me yes_ , she said with the gentle caress of her palm arching over his cheek.

All the scrambled pieces of his deepest wishes gathered and clicked together. Everything he had dreamed all his life manifested in this moment as the woman he loved stood there, looking so nervous, lowering her hand as if there was even a tiny, ridiculous chance that Marcus wouldn't feel the same way about her.

He didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry but he had to do something to release this agitating emotion from his chest that was threatening to spill over. He didn't dare to even move in a fearr of breaking the beautiful illusion. Because this was all too good to be real. He managed to gain enough courage to offer her a hesitant, hopeful smile and saw Abby's eyes flicker with an emotion he now could recognize. 

They were standing together in silence, just staring at each other in awe. There was a certain tangible, giddy sense of anticipation hanging heavy between them. Both were waiting for the unspoken thing to be affirmed, but Marcus wasn't in a particular hurry. He wanted to stop the film and freeze it forever to this second, so he could spend an eternity studying Abby's brown eyes filled with adoration or her lips which had released the question he’d somehow spent his entire life waiting for.

Before even realizing it Marcus had surged forward and was cradling Abby's face in his trembling hands.

"I meant every single word," he exhaled.

Her eyes widened at the words as if she had not quite dared to anticipate that answer, which made Marcus's heart ache. How could she not have known?

"That's — nice," she whispered.

Marcus could not help but let out a shaky little chuckle at that. Abby's face blossomed into a smile too and the sweet melody of her quiet laughter filled the room.

It was a silly thing to ask at this point when Abby was all but offering him her heart but still, Marcus found himself doing it.

"Why do you ask?" he murmured.

Abby pursed her lips together and looked down. She hesitated for a moment.

"Because I was hoping you would feel the same way as I do."

She lifted her eyes and Marcus saw them brimming with the most breathtaking emotion. It almost enough to convince him that she shared his feelings.

But he wanted to be completely sure. "And the way you feel is...?"

Abby closed her eyes, smiling. She seemed to understand what Marcus was doing and why. She parted her lips to let the words tumble out he had yearned for so long to hear.

"I love, love—"

Marcus crashed his lips against hers before she could even finish.

* * *

Abby did not know how long she'd been standing in Marcus's arms, their mouths moving together. Her guess could be either an eternity or just a few seconds; either way, she never wanted to let him go, never wanted their lips to part for too long. She could happily melt into his embrace and let the outside world fade away.

This kiss was so different from all the previous ones they had shared. Now they relished in tenderly tasting each other, both of them feeling blissful from knowing that they were not alone in their feelings.

Every once in awhile their lips parted simply to exchange the same set of sentences, presented as questions by their still unbelieving voices.

"You love me."

"Yes," she smiled. "And you love me."

"More than anything."

And his mouth was on hers again. They were like giddy teenagers, assuring each other of their love in the midst of their desperate kisses. Marcus kept holding onto her like he feared she would disappear on him. It just made Abby clasp her arms tighter around him, trying to show him that she could never walk away, not after discovering the taste of his lips and the way her heart sang when he repeated those three words.

They broke apart, but only to press their foreheads gently against each other as they tried to catch their breaths. There was a new question forming on Marcus's lips.

"For how long?"

"God, I don't even know," Abby said, entwining her fingers with his. "I only realized it after the speech, but I couldn't believe that all of your words were actually sincere. It seemed far too good to be true."

"You are too good to be true," he whispered, bringing her hand to his lips to brush a soft kiss on her knuckles. Abby felt weak in the knees at the tender contact.

"What about you?" she murmured. "How long have you loved me?"

Marcus took a deep breath before answering. "Possibly forever."

Abby blinked.

He was watching her with fully earnest eyes, his gaze even a little bit pained.

Abby was starting to feel light-headed, even delirious. She had no idea it would be even possible for her heart to fill with even more happiness, but Marcus had made that happen and now her chest felt like it would burst. She did the only thing she could do and grabbed him by the lapels, pulling him into another kiss and pouring all of her love for him into it. Marcus swept her into his arms and started kissing back with equal enthusiasm.

Abby wondered if she could ever get tired of his soft lips, or of the sweet way his tongue tentatively traced the seam of her mouth but did not dare to enter. Smiling, she parted her lips just a hint, urging him to deepen the kiss. Marcus sighed and slipped his tongue between her lips.

His hand moved to cup the back of her head, caressing her hair with something akin to reverence. Just as Abby clasped her arms around his neck, he let his other hand slide down her neck before letting it move along her side. The very moment his fingers hesitantly traced the fabric around her waist, Abby deepened the kiss, pressing her chest firmer against his, as her body pleaded for something she couldn't put into words.

When his eyes slowly cracked open, Abby could see they were filled with such deep darkness that a shiver ran along her spine.

"Abby," he sighed, his gaze wandering along her bare skin, while his hands clutched the fabric of her dress in an almost desperate fashion. "Abby I want—"

"Yes," she pressed on his lips as an answer, effectively silencing him. "Yes, I want it too," she murmurs against his mouth, kissing him over and over again until there wouldn't be any doubts left of how much she needed him to touch her, to love her until they both forgot everything that had kept them apart for so long.

And yet, Marcus still released her from his embrace. "It shouldn't be like this, it feels forced, and wrong." He muttered with a downward look, and Abby knew what he was thinking _. I wanted to give you more._

"You're my husband, and I'm your wife. We have a candle-filled room and a bed covered in petals. What more do we need?"

But Marcus still seemed hesitant, running his fingers through his hair.

"Do I seem reluctant in any way?" 

"No, but—"

"Or rather, do I seem willing?" she said, approaching him slowly, batting her lashes, until she was only a whisper away from Marcus's face. The man only managed to offer a slight nod, watching intently as Abby wetted her lips.

"I need to know that you're absolutely sure," he said.

"I have never been so sure about anything in my life," she whispered, grabbing Marcus' hand and guiding it to rest on the curve of her waist. But Marcus was too stunned to make another move. His hand just laid hot and heavy on her dress, making Abby realize just how desperate she was for the sensation of his fingers on her bare skin. She just needed to encourage him a little bit more, give him an extra push.

"I thought you said you wanted me," Abby leaned to whisper against his neck.

Marcus let out a shaky "yes" as she pressed her lips against his Adam's apple. Her mouth moved to trail soft kisses from his jaw all the way to his ear.

"I want you more than you could ever possibly know," he rasped.

"Then take me," she said, with a nip at his earlobe.

That seemed to rid Marcus of all his inhibitions. Their teeth clashed together as he surged forward in a bruising kiss, his hands flying towards the back of her head in order to capture her in his strong grip. The force of his motions backed her towards the bed and before she knew it, Abby was sitting on the edge, Marcus' mouth pressed insistent against hers, and  then she found herself falling onto the mattress with a thump, Marcus suddenly on top of her, his fingers threading through her hair while his kisses grew in desperation.

Abby wrapped her hands around him, letting herself cling to him as she drowned deeper and deeper into the taste of his lips. But just then Marcus parted, and his hand left her curls, his fingers moving to draw a loving line along her cheek before brushing over her lips. She felt a thrill of arousal shoot between her legs at the pure, unabashed want in his eyes.

He wrapped his hands around her waist, helping her to sit up. Then he started pushing away her skirts, revealing more and more of the bare skin of her legs to his view, his eyes savoring every inch. His mouth sank urgent against hers yet again, and his fingers slipped beneath her hem. They started to slowly creep up her thigh, towards her the place that was already aching and burning for him.

When his hands found the wispy material of her garter, Marcus let out a shaky breath, his gaze so dark that her skin felt aflame.

Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against hers. 

His hand left the sensitive skin of her thigh with one final caress, making Abby wish that he had dared to move it just an inch higher. 

"Can I?" he whispered, his fingertips moving up to hover over the laces of her dress.

Breathless, Abby nodded at him and he set to work. He brushed a deep, lingering kiss on her lips as his fingers skimmed across her spine. But he only teased the laces with tiny tugs, even though Abby could feel his fingertips burning with the desire to touch and explore when they brushed over her bare back.

But that was not enough for Abby who was starting to become feverish with want. She wanted him flush against her skin, so close as humanly possible, and she was getting impatient. So she wrapped her legs around his torso, pressing herself close and she felt the evidence of his desire heavy against her thigh. Marcus let out a strangled groan, sinking his head into the crook of her neck.

The man panted against her skin, his hands roaming back to her laces with burning desperation. She realized he was not being slow on purpose, but his fingers were experiencing trouble with the laces as his movements rapidly grew more frustrated when he couldn’t find the knot that would finally unravel Abby before him.

Abby couldn't help but let out a tiny laugh. "It's not supposed to be that difficult—"

Her mouth was stopped with a hungry kiss. His hands clutched the dress in his fists before giving it a violent yank.

There was a long, unmistakable sound of fabric ripping apart and Abby could feel the dress unfastening around her before it started to slide down her body. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she gathered the material against her chest. Marcus watched the shreds of the dress in his hands with a look of sheer bewilderment. He had torn open the back with one tug.

Abby could feel heat climbing up her neck as she realized she was sitting with her legs tangled around Marcus, the only thing covering her skin was the piece of fabric she was holding up. Marcus looked like he wanted to rip that last barrier away, but instead, he clenched his hands into fists and looked down.

"I'm sorry," he exhaled.

Abby's heart melted at his obvious struggle to restrain his desire for her. As much as she felt insecure in front of him, she also felt the overwhelming need to do something, anything to show him that there would be no need for apologies. She was his, only his, forever.

With a coy smile, she loosened her grip on the fabric and the gown slowly gathered around her. Marcus' eyes shot up, his gaze wandering from her naked chest down to her navel. Abby was nervous, feeling far too self-conscious of every mark of age on her bared body and fought the urge to cover herself.

But after a while, it was hard to feel insecure in front of Marcus's reverent gaze. He devoured every inch of her body with his heavy gaze, making Abby shiver even in the warmth of the room. His dark eyes danced across her skin until they became fixed on the fabric which was pooled in her lap, hiding the last place he'd not seen yet. Abby saw him swallow hard.

After gaining his composure, he lifted his gaze, a gentle smile on his lips. "You are beautiful."

With that, his lips pressed against hers with a new sense of urgency and passion. Dizzy from the sudden attack, Abby had to clasp her arms around his neck for support while his hands started to wander across her bare skin.

Soon Marcus' mouth parted from hers, only to bestow his attention to her jaw, her collarbone, and her neck. He found a patch of skin to graze with his teeth which produced delightful gasps from Abby's throat. Pleased with his findings, he started tormenting the delicate spot with his mouth. In her pleasure-laden haze, Abby could hardly begin to process the fact that the man who had not even dared to brush his fingers against hers the night before was the same man whose hands were now caressing her body while he sucked on her neck with enough force to leave a mark.

His other hand drifted upwards until he cupped her breast. Marcus kneaded her soft flesh tenderly between his hands, causing Abby's eyes to close and her head to fall back. It didn’t take long before the tips of his fingers started to caress her nipples with featherlight brushes. At the sensation, her hands reached out before tangling her fingers in his hair.

Clutching at his head, Abby pulled him lower and Marcus happily followed along. His mouth landed on her breast, lips wrapping around her stiffened nipple. As she released a deep moan of appreciation he flicked his tongue against her sensitive bud with more greed. Then he shifted his attention to another breast, making Abby's mind grow hazy in pleasure and soft gasps emerge from her throat.

Finally, he pressed his head between her breasts, murmuring unintelligible words of adoration against her chest before pressing one last tender kiss on her skin. Abby sighed in disappointment as his lips left her skin.

Marcus let out an airy laugh at the sound she had let past her lips, and Abby had to wonder again if it was even for him to make her love him more. He laid a reassuring peck on her lips, and she opened her eyes just in time to see that he had risen up from the bed, leaving her perched on the edge. Smiling, he slowly lowered himself to his knees between her legs, making the breath hitch in Abby's throat.

"You don't need to-"

"Abby, I want all of you."

Abby bit her lip as Marcus positioned his face right in front of the piece of fabric left covering her. Having him kneel in front of her brought back memories from two days ago when he'd been untangling her hem from the branches. Never could have Abby imagined that he would be in that same position ever again, and with a whole different purpose in mind. She held her breath as grabbed Marcus her dress and maneuvered its torn remnants from around her with ease.

The dress was flung into the corner of the room, useless and destroyed, and Marcus was free to fix his attention on the only remaining clothing still on her; her white, sheer panties.

He placed a kiss on her inner thigh, just next to where her skin met lace. His beard tickled her sensitive skin, causing Abby to let out the tiniest exhale of anticipation. He hooked his fingers around the waistband of her panties and started to slowly drag them down, his mouth pressing soft kisses against her leg along the way. She lifted her feet to let Marcus dispose of the clothing. The garter Marcus decided to leave on, his eyes flickering with dark hunger as he brushed it with his fingers. He shifted his eyes lower.

Marcus examined the curls of her pubic hair with a pleased smile on his face. Abby felt a little bit flustered for letting the maids talk her into trimming herself for her groom, but she forgot her embarrassment the moment Marcus leaned forward with his mouth. Abby clenched her eyes shut in pleasure as his lips brushed her curls, pressing a torturous kiss just above her folds. His nose moved until he could slightly nuzzle her opening and Abby could not help but buck her hips at the contact. Marcus gripped her waist to keep her tightly in her place as he lowered his mouth to her and slowly parted her folds with his tongue.

With one gentle lick Abby was reduced to a sobbing mess. She had to clutch at his hair, in the fear of her knees giving up on her even though she was sitting on the edge of a solid bed. Marcus seemed to immensely enjoy the effect he was having on her as Abby could feel him smiling between her thighs. His tongue started teasing her clit with merciless little circles that grew faster and tighter as her gasps grew sharper. Every once in a while he stopped, letting his hot breath flicker against her center, causing Abby squirm and twist her hands deeper into his dark curls.

Her whole body trembled with pleasure as Marcus savored her, his fingers digging into her hips as he pushed his tongue deeper and deeper, chasing her taste. Just as the pressure coiling inside her threatened to make her vision fade black if she did not get her release soon, he captured her clit between his lips and sucked, _hard._

Abby came apart with a cry. The powerful shock of her orgasm pierced through her body and turned her into something disembodied, shuddering and breathless as Marcus wrapped his hands protectively around her, not letting her collapse against him.

"Was that good for you?" he asked, an endearing hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Abby tried to give him an answer, but the only sound she could muster from her mouth was a shaky exhale. That made his smirk consume his whole face. For a while, they just stared at each other, smiling, until they burst out into a soft, disbelieving laughter almost at the same time. Marcus climbed back on the bed, crawled over to her and stole the giggles from her lips with a deep, loving kiss.

Who could've ever guessed that they would ever be this to each other? That Abby would hear him laugh in that carefree way and taste herself on his tongue? That she would get to stroke his beard while he drowned her in kisses, and feel his chest pressed against hers...

His clothed chest against her naked one.

Abby scrunched her forehead, breaking away from the kiss. "Marcus, how are you still dressed?"

His response was an amused chuckle, and Abby sighed, starting to fumble with the button of his shirt.

It was clumsy, their noses kept bumping into each other they tried to keep kissing while at the same time Marcus tried to shrug off his jacket and Abby relieved him of his shirt. Finally, Abby ended up just yanking the shirt open and ripping it off of him. The piece of clothing fell to the floor, unwanted and torn.

She studied Marcus' bare upper body with admiration, only to meet his apologetic gaze. She realized that the same insecurities she had struggled with just a moment earlier were now tormenting him too. With a tender smile on her face, Abby leaned closer so she could press a light kiss on his chest, while her hands continued to roam his body, exploring the feel of his muscles.

"Perfect," she whispered.

Marcus watched with dark eyes as Abby's hands glided across the planes of his chest down and down and down until they reached his trousers. Before he even had time to react Abby was already unfastening them. She could not get the trousers down fast enough so she snaked her fingers beneath the fabric, quickly finding the bulge in his briefs.

"Abby," Marcus sighed as she palmed his hardness through the fabric. She whispered comforting noises while starting to work him out of his constraining underwear. Abby pulled his trousers and briefs down and his cock sprang to view, causing her eyes to widen.

Sometimes, after consuming a little bit too much moonshine, her mind would drift to the crotch of Marcus' pants. Those thoughts were always accompanied with lots of blushing and blaming it on the alcohol. But never in her wildest dreams had she expected something so big, so essentially male. It was beautiful.

Precum was already leaking from the tip as Abby brushed her finger over the slit, causing Marcus to close his eyes. She continued to tease the sensitive head with a light circular motion until Marcus let out a low groan. Smirking, she wrapped both of her hands around the shaft.

She started to slowly stroke him, dragging her thumb along his veins as she moved up and down with one hand, the other caressing the top of his cock. After seeing Marcus' mouth fall open and head tilt back, she smiled. She loved to make him feel so good, to see him melt under her touch. She started speeding up ministrations but was stopped Marcus' hand wrapping around her wrist.

"No, not yet," he hissed. He rose, pinching his eyes shut, seeming to gather all of his self-control to move Abby's hand away from his cock. At Abby's surprised gaze, he laid a reassuring hand on her cheek. "I want to be in you when I come."

As an answer she just exhaled, shivers running across her spine at the words.

Marcus gently wrapped her arms around her waist and lowered her naked body onto the mattress, until Abby was sprawled across the sheets, but she was unable to suppress a small grimace as her hairdo was left uncomfortably behind her head. Marcus held her gaze until he was settled just above her. However, instead of leaning down to capture her lips, like Abby wished he’d do, he smiled while removing a rose from her hair. With a playful smirk on his face, he tucked the flower behind his ear, making Abby smile.

Marcus gathered her hair, moving it until it flowed over one shoulder. He then started to slowly unravel the knots of her braid before carefully pulling out the roses until her hair cascaded over her pillow as a golden brown halo. Taking his time, he stroked his fingers through her curls with languid caresses while softly gazing down at Abby.

"I love you."

Abby truly ought to tease the man for trying to start the chain of assurances again when he was about to enter her, but instead, her heart just swelled at the words, as if she was hearing them for the very first time again. Looking at him through half-lidded eyes, a soft smile played on her lips. "Say that again."

"I love you." He leant to give her a long, lingering kiss. "I love you," Marcus leaned back just enough so he could repeat the words, causing Abby to release a deep and content sigh.

"I love you." He pressed his lips against her neck. "I love you," he whispered against her chest, while his fingers danced down and down until they found their way to her entrance to test if she was ready. He brushed one finger along her folds and brought it back glistening wet. Letting out an approving smile, he brought his finger back, and slowly, torturously slid it inside.

Abby’s body was set on fire. She let out a loud gasp which encouraged the second finger to enter her. She rocked forward, desperately trying to get him to thrust his fingers deeper, to crook them until they hit the spot that sends her to heavens, but they slipped out and she was left with squirm-inducing emptiness. Thankfully not for long, because his cock was eagerly nudging her entrance.

"Please, just—" Abby whimpered, clutching at his shoulder in desperation.

"I will, I will," he murmured, pressing a light kiss on each of her closed eyelids as he slowly sank into her. 

Abby let out a deep moan as her walls stretched around his girth, making place for him. Marcus released a muffled groan against her shoulder and Abby's nails dug deep into his back. Her wetness slicked the way for him to fill her completely with ease, which made Abby shudder with pleasure. He felt so big and good inside her that Abby had to bite back a cry of disappointment when his cock started to slide wetly out, only to immediately push back in.

They started fucking in a slow rhythm, Abby rocking her hips to meet his thrusts, their moans and sighs mixing together into a symphony of pleasure. She wrapped her legs around him, so she could get more of him, more of the dizzying sensation of Marcus' skin against hers and his cock deep inside her, more of his deep moans which she muffled with her kisses before they had to part in need of more oxygen.

"You feel so good, so perfect," Marcus sighed, pressing tiny, sloppy kisses across her jawline. "Beautiful, perfect," he kept repeating until his praise turned into inarticulate groans as his breathing accelerated and thrusts gained more speed. 

Abby was only able to let out soft gasps and cries as his hips met hers and his cock hit the deepest parts of her at a maddening pace, her vision starting to blur. She could feel waves of pleasure of crashing over her, intending to take her with them and drown her in hot-white bliss.

"Oh Marcus, I'm so close," she whined, burying her head in the crook of his neck. Based on his shallow breaths and tight tension of his muscles against her she knew he had to be teetering at the edge too. 

"Come with me," he breathed, his hand flying to where they were joined.

He started rubbing her clit in agonizing circular motions and together with the sensation of his mouth dipping down to suck on her pulse point and the final, fierce thrust inside Abby saw stars. She fell and fell, her own cry feeling distant to her ears as the release crashed over her, leaving her boneless and floating. Only a heartbeat later Marcus burst himself inside her with the shape of her name on his lips.

They collapsed against each other, panting, his cock still buried deep inside her. For a while they remained still, sweaty limbs entangled, unable to even manage each other's name in their sated exhaustion. They only had the energy to share smiles, and lazy, fluttery kisses on each other's lips.

"You are unbelievable," Marcus croaked out.

"Speak for yourself" Abby smiled, voice a little breathless, as Marcus slowly drew out his softening member.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. Abby let her head fall on his chest and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his embrace. Marcus' hand came to rest on the crown of her head, stroking her hair tenderly and at his pleased hum, Abby knew he was just as blissful as her.

"You still want to sleep on the floor?" she teased.

Marcus responded with a soft chuckle, his eyes lidded and mouth curved upwards in a tired smile. She reached out her hand to graze his face with her fingers, to brush his bearded jaw, his cheeks, the crinkles in the corners of his eyes. _Definitely too good to be true._

He was a funny sight, with his hair completely mussed and the flower behind his ear shabbily drooping out. Seeing him in this state made her want to kiss him senseless as if they weren’t wrapped in each other's arms completely spent but just starting out. Abby slipped her fingers in his curls so she could bring his mouth to hers in a deep kiss.

He eagerly answered the kiss, a happy sigh tumbling from his lips, but he wrenched his head away after a moment. "Just give me a minute. I'm not a young man anymore," he exhaled.

Abby just smiled, nuzzling her nose against his neck and pressing a kiss to his skin.

"Soon?" she asked, tracing the dip of his collarbone with her lips until she heard Marcus sigh.

"Soon," he answered with a raspy voice, a dazed look in his eyes. It was like he still couldn't quite believe how much Abby wanted him. She told him exactly how much with a whisper in his ear, and it didn't take long for him to pin her against the mattress again after hearing that.

In the end, Abby had been right. They didn't get much sleep that night.


	8. The second lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus and Abby get a taste of happiness with each other while Lexa lets her guard down a moment too soon. Reghan's pettiness may just be everyone's salvation. Once again, fate doesn't look kindly upon Abby when it comes to the matters of her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long break, hopefully I'll be able to deliver the last chapter in a more timely fashion. Thank you everyone for your kind feedback, it really means a lot to me. Enjoy!

Marcus woke up in a sunlight-filled room to the sensation of someone’s soft breath fluttering against his skin. He slowly turned his head to see Abby laying across him, naked, her brown curls spread over his chest and tickling his skin. For a moment Marcus was surprised, pleasantly so, until memories of last night flooded his mind. He recalled Abby's whispered words of adoration, the feel of her bare skin under his fingertips, all the wonderful sounds he had been able to draw from her throat, and the way her body had moved in perfect harmony with his throughout the night. Then the most delightful realization of them all struck him.

Abby was completely his and she was sleeping in his arms like it was only the most natural place for her to be. Marcus felt a quiet happiness welling up in his chest as he studied the sleeping woman.

_God, I love you._

_And you love me back_ , he thought, almost releasing an elated chuckle at the fact.

Eventually, the woman in his arms slowly woke up from her slumber, blinking before fully opening her eyes. After she met Marcus' gaze, a languid smile appeared on her face.

"Hi."

"Hi," Abby answered in a quiet voice, her eyes still half-lidded. "Is this real?"

"I'm afraid so," Marcus grinned, his fingers moving down to play with an errant curl of hair. Abby closed her eyes, smiling, and shifted her head to rest in the crook of his neck. The next time she looked up at him she seemed almost shy.

"No regrets?" She asked while circling small patterns on his chest with her finger.

Marcus closed his eyes as Abby's fingertips danced over his skin, smiling at her sudden coyness. Abby had been all fire and urgency the previous night, whereas now the morning after she was all soft glances and feather-light touches.

"Only that we waited so long.”

Abby brought her hand up to stroke Marcus' cheek. "All the time we wasted..."

"We were such idiots," he sighed against her palm.

Abby withdrew her hand to smack him playfully on the arm. "No, you were the idiot! I was in love with you to an embarrassing degree, and you didn't even notice. Somehow a simpering, blushing fool of a woman right in front of you escaped your otherwise so sharp perception skills."

Marcus frowned. "How could I ever, in a million years, dare to believe that you felt even an ounce more than just friendly affection towards—?

Abby stopped his mouth with a tender peck.

"You may be an idiot, but you're my idiot."

Marcus chuckled. "That I am."

"And I'm yours," she smiled.

It was hard to believe that he wasn't still dreaming as he slipped his fingers into Abby's silky hair to pull her face closer. Marcus pressed his lips against hers and deepened the kiss almost immediately as he rediscovered her mesmerizing taste. Abby responded with equal ardor, and the fact that she so blatantly wanted to kiss and touch him still caught him of guard. Just like it had done the previous night. When they parted, they were both breathless and trembling.

"I don't want to get up yet," Abby sighed, wrapping herself firmer against him. Marcus felt his member stir as her bare breasts pressed against his chest. It was dizzying how much he could want her. 

"So let's not do that. There are far better things we could do,” he murmured.

"Like what?" Abby teased.

Marcus answered by grasping her jaw and pulling her into another, even more passionate kiss. Abby let out a soft moan as his tongue slipped into her mouth and allowed Marcus to roll her onto her back, his firm grip on her waist. 

"Aren't you tired?" she asked breathlessly as Marcus parted to study her with his hooded eyes. 

He did feel sore, perhaps more than ever in his life. But the aching in his loins was pleasant and reminded him of all the wicked things they had done together all night. Some of those things he'd like to do again and again with the impossibly alluring woman beside him.

"Never of you," Marcus said and climbed on top of her, his mouth meeting hers. Abby's hands moved up to clutch at his shoulder blades to keep him in his rightful place, kissing her with full abandon. Abby smirked against his lips when she felt his hardness against her thigh, and Marcus increased the intensity of the kiss, wanting to wipe her smugness away. As he dragged his hand slowly down her body, Abby’s eyes closed while she tilted her head backward.

_Sweet revenge._

Just before his fingers slipped where she needed them the most they heard the sound of the door creaking open and Marcus yanked his hand back.

"Good morning!" A maid cheerfully chirped. "I hope you had a—"

Abby roughly shoved Marcus off her. He plumped down on his back, and after seeing the maid's aghast face he reached for the blanket to cover himself, although he was quite sure that she had seen more than enough already.

"I am so sorry!" the maid exclaimed, turning her head away. "I was just here for the sheets."

"Sheets?" Marcus asked.

The maid's eyes caught the torn dress piled on the floor. Her eyes widened.

"But it's not necessary anymore," she yelped, face red. "I'll just go."

The girl scurried out of the door with the speed of a lightning, leaving both Abby and Marcus flustered and confused.

"Sheets?" Marcus repeated again.

"They wanted to know if we consummated the marriage," Abby muttered, an embarrassed blush apparent on her cheeks as she clutched the fur duvet to her chest.

 _Multiple times_ , Marcus thought cheekily and crawled beside Abby. He took the flushed woman in his arms and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"It's over now. We're not required to do anything else."

Abby gave out a weak chuckle. "We actually played our parts successfully. Unbelievable."

Marcus gave her a shy smile. "I hope it was not all acting."

Something dark and playful flashed in Abby's eyes at that. She entwined their fingers. "You know it wasn't," she murmured, gazing him from underneath her lashes. The heavy gaze in her eyes made the fierce, urgent fire he felt for her seep into Marcus' veins.

"I just want to make sure," he whispered and pressed his lips insistently to the skin of her neck.

"Go ahead," Abby sighed. Marcus happily obliged.

* * *

 

Lexa was staring out of the window while clutching a cup of wine in her quivering hands. She had not slept during the night. She had left Clarke in their bed without saying a word, not wanting to reveal to her how anxious she was. She watched Reghan's troops starting to emerge from their tents, and felt an uncomfortable knot in her stomach welling up.

Of course, she was prepared for the potential conflict. She had Indra and a couple of hundred soldiers on standby, and in any other scenario she would've been happy enough to give the order to attack and enjoy some bloodshed like in the good old days, but not now, when the woman she loved was sleeping peacefully in the next room and her mother and the whole of her clan were in danger.

"Hodnes laik kwelnes," she muttered and lowered her cup with a sigh.

She wondered if she should go check on the wedding chamber before one of Reghan's maids caught Kane sleeping on the floor, or worse of all, not even there. Even if the bastard had had enough sense to share his bride's bed, neither of them probably hadn't dared to breathe in each other direction during the night. It was only probable that Reghan would be knocking on her door any minute now with a sword in his hand and a gleeful smile on his face.

She was wrong about two things.

Reghan didn't knock, but barged into her quarters without a warning, sword clutched in his hand. But his expression was tight and humorless.

"I came here first before you found out and tracked me down to gloat," he grunted, making Lexa's brow furrow in confusion. "Skaihefa and his wife are married in an every meaning of the word now."

Lexa barely prevented her brow bouncing up in pleasant surprise. Instead she forced an uninterested expression on her face. "The sheets?"

"There was no need. My maid caught them in the act itself. It also appeared that the dress had been violently torn off her, and the groom's garments were disposed into odd places-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Lexa said with a tight smile. This was Clarke's mother he was talking about, after all. Then her lips curved into a smug smirk.

"Were there any more doubts left?" she drawled. Seeing the hard lines in the corners of Reghan's mouth and the cold look in his eyes made her happier than anything that could've happened during the feast. The man looked frustrated, but best of all, defeated.

"Do you want me to admit that I was wrong?" he grunted.

This felt even better than driving a sword through him. "Yes," she admitted, hoping that Clarke was awake to see this.

Reghan let out an angry huff before turning his back on her.

"Thank you for the feast!" Lexa called out after him, but the door was already slammed shut.

_Bastard._

When she was finally left alone, she let out the deep sigh of relief she had been holding back and slumped in the chair near the window. She lifted her cup from the table, watching Reghan's men with a whole new peace of mind. All because of those idiots came to their senses at the very last moment. Lexa yawned. She didn't know if she wanted to send her best hunters to bring the biggest wild boar they could find to Arkadia just as a thank you gift for Kane, or if she wanted to throw him in a cell for a couple of days to think about all of his idiotic decisions.

Perhaps both.

Lexa dozed off in her chair, the wine cup still in her hands, until an abrupt voice behind her woke up her up with a start.

"One more question," Reghan said, making her almost jump and spill her drink to her lap. She wrenched her head around and saw the prince standing behind her chair with a pleased smile on his face.

"What now?” Lexa snapped.

"There's just one thing that keeps bothering me," Reghan said, squinting his eyes. Lexa sighed and took a big gulp of her wine, almost downing the whole glass.

"I noticed something when Abby lifted the mirror before smashing it against my face. Namely that she was wearing a shimmery little thing. And I wondered to myself, why was she already wearing a ring before her wedding? Hadn’t she promised herself to Skaihefa?

Lexa snapped her eyes shut. Damn Skaikru and their sentimentality. She lowered her cup just slowly enough down to think of a quick lie.

"Just another aspect of Skaikru culture you're ignorant of," she said with a calm tone. "That was her engagement ring."

"Engagement ring?"

"Skaikru men have a custom of giving their loved ones rings that indicate a promise of marriage," Lexa said matter-of-factly.

"I see," Reghan smiled and wrapped his arm around Lexa's shoulders. "According to a little bird, she had it on her finger back at her camp. It's endearing that was willing to risk the secret of their engagement just to wear it."

"She's a romantic at heart," Lexa said with a chilly voice, staring intently at Reghan's fingers resting on her skin. She'd allow him a couple of seconds more to realize to wrench them off before she'd start breaking them.

"Love is truly foolish. It makes you do the silliest of mistakes," he chuckled and opened his fist to reveal Abby's necklace. Reghan dangled the rings hanging from it in front of Lexa's face and made sure to tilt the metal band so that the engraving inside it was revealed to her eyes.

_Jacob & Abigail Griffin 14.5.2129_

"There's a good explanation for this," Lexa said. "Kane—"

"Proposed to her with her dead husband's ring that she had worn since she came down from space? Shame on you for lying," Reghan _tsk-tsk_ ed. "Makes me wonder what else you lied about."

Lexa kept her expression stony. "It doesn't matter what I say to you. Kane and Abby have been completely truthful about their engagement and there's nothing you can prove otherwise."

Reghan smiled. "I have to admit that at first I didn't believe that they were even in love. But now I see what a cute couple they are. So cute in fact that I decided to send a message to Polis after finding this ring."

Lexa's blood ran cold.

"Apparently you had arranged for them to get an annulment with a local officiator. Naturally, I canceled it for you." Reghan's grip on her shoulder tightened until his nails dug into her skin. Lexa tried to say something, anything, but no words could come out.

"It's such a shame," he whispered in her ear. "You were _so close_ to getting away with this."

* * *

 Abby couldn't for the life of her understand how she had let so many cold, lonely nights pass without spending them wrapped up in Marcus' embrace. The feel of his bread tickling the side of her face, his arm protectively wrapped around her waist and his warmth bent against the curve of her body was something Abby wouldn't know how to live without after getting this first taste.

The afterglow of their morning lovemaking had draped them in a languid and blissful silence they did not want to disrupt by words already heard hundreds of times during the previous night. Everything was as clear as day between them and only accentuated by the ease of their rest.

There was a knock on the door.

They both chose to ignore the jarring sound. Abby just pressed herself firmer against Marcus and felt his lips lightly brush her ear as he murmured unintelligible, loving words into her hair. The knock was repeated insistent and loud.

"Oh for god's sake, not again," Marcus huffed and propped himself up on his elbow. Abby let out a disappointed little whine as the warmth beside her disappeared and his fingers slipped away from her skin. Marcus gave a tiny chuckle at her reaction and pressed a soft kiss on her shoulder before rising from the bed.

Abby sat up and gathered the sheets against her chest to cover herself while Marcus hurriedly wrapped a duvet around his waist and answered the door.

"What do you want?" he said curtly to the young boy in the doorway who took one look at Marcus' bare chest and Abby's sheet-draped form on the bed before seemingly deciding that he'd rather be anywhere else in the whole world.

"Heda requests your immediate audience," the boy peeped.

Marcus blinked at the messenger as if he had uttered the most ridiculous thing imaginable.

"Tell your Heda I'm with _my wife_. We have done everything she asked for and then some, she can't possibly expect me to meet with her right now."

The boy's painfully clear uncomfortableness expressed nothing but sympathy towards Marcus, but still, he forced his mouth open. "She said the matter was urgent."

"Urgent enough to drag me out of my wedding chamber?"

The boy cleared his throat, his cheeks flushed red. "She said she was aware of the bad timing, but told me to drag you out of bed at sword-point if necessary."

Marcus threw a pained look over his shoulder at Abby's barely covered body and forced himself to drag his gaze back to the messenger. "Tell her I'll be there in a moment, and that she better have a hell of a good reason for this."

The boy nodded before scampering away and Marcus closed the door with a sigh.

"Abby..."

"It's okay, I understand," she said softly. "Lexa needs you."

Marcus offered her a tight smile and started gathering his garments in his hands. Abby watched as he tugged on his clothes, looking so displeased at the process that Abby felt the urge to let out a gentle laugh. She shifted so that she could dangle her legs from the edge of the bed, and watched Marcus with a fond smile on her face. _What a beautiful, ridiculous man._

"You called me your wife," she said quietly.

"Huh?"

"To Lexa's messenger. You said that you were with your wife."

A guilty expression flickered in Marcus' eyes as he turned to Abby. "I did?"

"You did nothing wrong. _I am_ your wife."

"I didn't want to assume."

"I'm not going to divorce you if that's what you're afraid of."

Marcus' eyes widened in hopeful astonishment. "Do you mean what I think you mean?"

"Abigail Kane does have a nice ring to it," Abby smiled. "I think I'll keep you, the annulment would be too much of a fuss anyway—"

Marcus answered by surging forward in a fierce kiss, capturing the back of Abby's head before clashing their lips together. The sudden attack made Abby lose her balance and both of them ended up falling backwards on the mattress, Marcus settling himself on top of her and lavishing her in kisses.

"I have never loved you more," he murmured, joining their lips together again and again to muffle Abby's giggles. "I thought you had to get dressed," she said breathlessly, but Marcus just buried his head in her hair.

"If I had a choice I'd never leave this bed," he murmured.

"At some point we would've been kicked out anyway," she chuckled but stopped short when she felt Marcus' fingertips on her leg.

"Give me at least something to remember you by," he murmured against her skin, his hand tantalizingly sliding up and up her leg until it reached her garter, the only remaining garment on her. His fingers grasped the lacy material and started dragging it slowly down her leg while his lips pressed insistent little kisses on her neck, making her shiver.

Abby had never hated Lexa and her orders more than now.

Marcus pocketed the garter with a smile and Abby couldn't resist giving the man a teasing nudge with her foot. "Am I ever going to get that back?"

"I don't think so." Marcus flashed her a dark smirk and the mere sight made Abby's limbs turn into liquid. It was astonishing that Marcus had managed to keep this side of him completely secret from everyone all these years, and that now only she had the privilege of bringing it out of him, making him look at her like that. 

He finished buttoning up his shirt and making sure his hair looked somewhat presentable before he placed his hands on the sides of her face and stooped down to drop a tender kiss on the crown of her hair. "Goodbye for now."

Abby responded by tilting her head so she could press a tender kiss just at the corner of his mouth. "Come back to me soon," she murmured.

"I will," he said, a dazed smile on his face. "I will," he repeated slowly retreating from the room, his gaze still locked on her lips. "I promise."

* * *

"Best. Wedding. Ever!"

Jasper let out a loud, joyous hoot which made Monty grimace and rub his temples. "Not so loud, _please._ "

The clearing was filled with cranky, tired guests packing up their belongings and readying their horses for the long rides back to home. The festivities seemed to have taken their toll on everyone, except for Jasper who was watching others with an amused grin on his face.

"How can you be so cheerful? I couldn't drag even Lincoln from his tent before midday," Octavia said, dark bags under her eyes.

"The trick is to keep drinking," Jasper winked at her and took a sip from his flask. "It's too bad we have to already get back home."

"Thank god. I don't think I can handle another party for a while," Harper said and took support from Monty who looked just as wretched.

"I could do this forever! Anyone else want to get married?" Jasper jerked his heads towards Bellamy and Raven who were walking towards the group. "How about you two? Still wearing yesterday's clothes, I see."

"Get a life, Jasper," Raven grunted, avoiding eye contact with Bellamy.

Fortunately for them both, Jasper's attention scattered as he noticed something far more interesting in the distance. "There comes the bride! Looks like she had good time."

"That's Clarke's mom, cut it out."

"I only said what everyone was thinking," Jasper whispered and nodded at Abby who was quickly approaching them.

After getting tired of waiting for Marcus who had returned to her even after hours, Abby had gotten dressed and emerged out to the clearing to find out about their travel arrangements. The smirks and curious gazes shot in her direction made her seriously reconsider her decision and tighten the scarf around her neck. It was doing a poor job of concealing the love marks on her skin as the wind kept it sliding down, and the knowing smiles of the teenagers made her cheeks burn.

"Congratulations," Jasper said to her. "You two actually made it!"

"Thank you," Abby muttered. "Have you seen my daughter?"

"Clarke is somewhere nearby, but where might we find your beloved?" Raven asked with a grin on his face.

"Marcus is—" Abby started, but the teasing smiles and sniggers made her close her mouth and furrow her brow as she realized how the delinquents had trapped her. 

"Am I right to assume that this charade has brought you and Kane that much closer?" Jasper continued with an innocent voice.

"No reason to deny it," Abby smiled, deciding to use honesty as the ace up her sleeve.

The teenagers didn't know what to say to that, just stared at her with their brows raised.

Somebody from behind Abby grabbed her arm. "I'll steal my mom away now so that you won't get to torment her any longer," Clarke said and shot her friends a glare.

Abby caught one last glance at the delinquents' faces as Clarke lead her away, and she could see from their expressions that they were slowly piecing together what had happened between her and Marcus last night. Perhaps this would only give rise to new ways to tease them both. 

Clarke slumped on top of her trunk and let out a deep sigh. "I can't wait to get back home. There's only so much drunk Jasper I can take."

"Difficult morning?" Abby asked and scooted next to her.

"One could say so. Lexa was acting weird earlier and kicked me out of our quarters." Clarke let her head fall on her mother's shoulder. "But everything went well after the feast with you and Marcus, right?" she asked.

As an answer, Abby leaned her head against Clarke's and closed her eyes. "I'm so happy," she whispered.

Clarke smiled. "I'm taking that as a yes."

"He loves me."

"I know," her daughter said, fondly rolling her eyes.

"And I love him."

"It's about time," Clarke laughed and slung her arms around her mother. "I'm so happy for you."

"I thought I'd never feel like this again," Abby confessed, her head buried in the crook of Clarke's neck. "I didn't think I would be even able to—"

"It's okay," Clarke comforted. "Dad would've approved."

"I hope so."

"And I _know_ so."

For a while, they just leaned against each other with soft smiles on their faces, Clarke's quiet support filling Abby with happiness she feared wouldn't even fit in her chest anymore for the abundance of it. 

She hesitated before asking the next question. "How would you feel if I and Marcus didn't get an annulment after all?"

Clarke grinned. "I wouldn't be too surprised."

"Were we that obvious?" Abby sighed.

"Mom, I love you, but everyone in the hundred mile radius could see how in love you both were,” her daughter stated, causing Abby to let out a small, involuntary laugh. Clarke started giggling too and soon they both were holding each other and chuckling from the sheer serendipity of the past two days.

Their laughter was interrupted by Indra who appeared like a storm cloud in front of them.

"I need to talk to you," she said to Abby, her expression even bleaker and more serious than usually.

"What is it?" Abby asked, feeling a twinge of fear in her stomach that quickly chased away all the lightness.

Indra turned to Clarke. "Lexa wants you to go to their carriage and stay there until otherwise told."

"But—"

"That was an order," Indra said coolly.

Clarke shot her a defiant look, but Indra's heavy glare eventually made her shoulders slump. "Alright," she whispered.

Abby watched her daughter stalk away, feeling now more worried than ever. "Is everything alright?" she urgently asked, staggering up to her legs as soon as Clarke was out of hearing range.

"Reghan has proof that you lied," Indra said with a low voice, causing the bottom of Abby's stomach to drop out. For a moment her throat was so tight she could hardly breathe, yet alone ask another question. _How? Why? When?_

Fortunately, Indra filled her in. "He caught Heda red-handed lying about your ring, and managed to find out about the annulment arrangements. Kane and Lexa have been negotiating with him for hours now, but it doesn't look good. I'm afraid none of us is going home tonight."

"Has he hurt Marcus?" Abby asked insistently, her chest constricting in dread.

Indra expression hardened. "I'm going to be blunt because I know you can take it. The first life Reghan will claim is going to be his."

Abby's head felt light, and she had to sit down again. "No, no, no..."

_Not Marcus._

How could everything go from something so perfect to this? They had suffered through so much and now Reghan was trying to snatch everything away from them at the very last second. It was cruel, and unfair, and it made tears sting in her eyes because she _couldn't_ do this again. But she wouldn't allow herself to be weak right now. She had to think of a solution, and fast.

Indra lowered her hand to the hilt of her sword. "It seems that we have to solve this the old-fashioned way. I'm just waiting for Lexa's sign." She took a look at the woman in front of her who had buried her head in her hands and felt the need to lay a comforting hand on Abby's shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better, this was bound to happen regardless of your bad acting," she deadpanned. "Reghan knew the truth from the start."

"Why would he do this to us if he knew that we were lying?" Abby asked, her hands moving to clutch at the sides of the trunk until her knuckles turned white. "What kind of sick bastard would get amusement from this?"

"If there's one thing Reghan likes more than killing people, it's punishing people for being dishonest to him. The wedding he arranged just for his own entertainment. The longer he can torture you for lying, the better. That's just how he is."

_One thing that Reghan likes more than killing people._

There was a hopeful tug at her heart. Abby shot her head up. "So he doesn't kill everyone who lies to him?"

Indra pondered the question for a moment. "No, actually. Like I said, he likes to drag it out. Some of his enemies are still alive, just stuck in some of his elaborate revenge plans that may take years. He's foolish if you ask me, I always spear my enemies on the spot. "

_The longer he can torture you for lying, the better._

There was an insistent little idea growing in her head; an idea that might ruin her life, but save everyone if only the gears in Reghan's mind worked like she hoped they would.

"I want to see Marcus," Abby said sharply.

"He especially asked me to take you somewhere safe. I'm not going to disobey a request that may be his last one," Indra said, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"I think I know how to save him."

Something flickered in Indra's eyes just as Abby had expected. Marcus was her friend, she wouldn't let him go so easily.

After a moment Indra choked out her response. "It better be a good plan."

Abby let out a deep breath. "I'm going to tell Reghan another lie."

The expression on Indra's face told her clearly what she though of that idea.

* * *

 The very second Abby entered Lexa's quarters with Indra in her tow, Marcus shot up from his chair with a thunderous expression on his face.

"No. Get her out of here, now."

He was bleeding, Abby noticed in alarm. There was a deep cut on his shoulder that had been hastily patched up with a shred of a bandage. Lexa was sitting on the chair next Marcus, and she had a similar wound on her shoulder she had not even tried to tend. It looked like someone had tried to carve an ugly pattern on both of their skins.

Facing Lexa was Reghan who was sitting on a chair with a broad grin on his face, sharpening his sword. "Welcome, lady Kane. If I had known you wanted a liar's mark too, I would've gladly invited to you to our little negotiation."

Marcus turned towards him. "If you touch her—"

Lexa barked something at him in Trigedasleng that made him halt. Then she shot Abby a glare. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to defend myself," Abby said and laid a defiant look at Reghan.

He quirked an amused eyebrow at her. "It's cute that you think you have something to say that could save you from my sword. However, the matter of the fact is that I'm going to kill every single person who has deceived by the end of the day." Reghan let out a deep sigh. "But I can't decide who I want to slice up first. Skaihefa was the one who started this whole mess, but on the other hand, I have loathed Lexa here most of my life. And you assaulted me with a mirror. Decisions, decisions..."

"For once in life Reghan, use your brain. Killing us will cause an uproar. You'll have a war on your hands," Lexa hissed.

Reghan swiftly ignored her.

"What if I make you two duel to the death first, and then I'll challenge the winner?" Reghan pondered aloud, before turning to Abby with a vicious smirk on his face. 

"Even better idea, how about I make our lovely bride decide which one I'll kill?" he said cheerfully and pointed his sword at Marcus and Lexa. "Who is it going to be, the man you love or Heda of the 13 clans?

 _Now or never_ , Abby though and took a deep breath.

"I don't love him," she said with a calm voice.

Reghan blinked at her.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't love Marcus. I never have."

Abby was not sure who in the room looked more bewildered at this assertion. Reghan had narrowed his eyes while Lexa's brow had shot up in surprise. Marcus had knotted his brow in deep confusion.

 _What are you planning?_ his gaze seemed to ask.

Abby stared back at him with her jaw set.

"I only agreed to marry him for the sake of the peace. He essentially forced me to do it, all the way through."

A trace of a smile flickered across Reghan's features. "This I was not aware of," he chuckled, leaning back in his chair. Abby could see he didn't believe a single word she had said. Lexa had noticed this too and was shooting Abby murderous looks.

_You're making this worse. You need to stop immediately._

_I know what I'm doing_ , Abby tried to signal to her with a stern look. 

"How could I love him?" she continued. "This man has been nothing but a bane to my existence ever since I met him. He took my husband and daughter away from me, tried to execute me, made my life living hell."

From the corner of her vision she noticed Marcus staring at her with wide, startled eyes. Abby averted her gaze.

"For years he didn't respect a single thing I did or what I said. He mocked me, belittled me, took every chance he got to punish me. And now he thinks he has the right to develop feelings for me. Ignoring the fact that I would _never_ consider him in that way, he decided to claim me as his property in the most humiliating way possible."

There had been a look in Marcus' eyes earlier that indicated that he knew what she was lying, but it didn't make it any easier notice the defeated expression on his face. Abby could see that he was internalizing every word, twisting and turning them in his head until he found some truth in them, but Abby couldn't just walk to him and shake him back to his senses; no, she had to keep going.

"He's a sad, detestable man. You can do whatever you want with him. I don't care whether he lives or dies."

There was a moment of long, suffocating silence. Reghan stroked his jaw with a calculating look in his eyes while Lexa was exchanging questioning looks with Indra. Marcus had cast his gaze down on the floor.

Finally, Reghan let out a snort. "That was one of the most brutal things I've ever witnessed, I'm not sure if I'm impressed or disgusted by you. But mostly I'm just puzzled at your obvious lying. What did you think you would achieve with this? I'm now even more convinced that Skaihefa is a waste of air and the same, frankly, goes for you."

Marcus snapped his head up. "No! She served no part in this. Like she said, I forced her."

Reghan shot him an amazed look. "Despite all that, you still love her. You're even more pathetic than I thought." He staggered up from his chair with a groan. "Congratulations Abby. Skaihefa's the first to go."

He lifted his sword up, causing Abby to visibly flinch.

Reghan tried very hard not to chuckle at her reaction. "Tsk tsk. I thought you hated this man." He held the blade over Marcus' throat, mirth spilling from his eyes as he held Abby's gaze.

Abby watched them with breath lodged in her throat. This was it.

Reghan stared at her expression for what had to be an eternity before finally flashing her a smile. To everyone' amazement, he lowered the sword.

_It worked._

He turned to Lexa. "Let's give those negotiations another go, shall we?"

Lexa wouldn't have looked more surprised if Reghan had suddenly wrapped her in a warm hug. She glanced at Abby. _How did you do that?_ her gaze seemed to scream.

It took a second before she could regain her composure and manage to choke some words out.

"Very well," Lexa said, struggling to keep her voice stable. "Abby, if you could excuse us?"

Abby desperately tried to meet Marcus' eyes.

_Look back at me, please._

Indra grabbed Abby's shoulder. "We should go."

Abby reluctantly let Indra guide her away. For a brief moment she felt Marcus' gaze on her back and threw a look over her shoulder but only saw that the look in the man's eyes was hollow and directed at nothing in particular.

* * *

 

Abby sat on the vast bed in her and Marcus' wedding chamber, staring at her torn dress which someone had neatly hung up from the wall as if Abby would want to pack it in her trunk and take it home.

Home. She should already be on the way there, riding back on the same horse with Marcus like the other married couples she had seen. She would be sitting between his legs in front of him, and Marcus would have one hand gently holding her from her waist, the other clutching the reins. Occasionally he would nose into her hair and press a kiss against her neck, and Abby would let out a laugh and order him to focus on the road. When they would finally reach the camp, Marcus would carry her to the chancellor's quarters and lower her on his bed. They wouldn't leave the room for days.

But no. She was still here and alone because the universe would seemingly never stop hating her.

Abby heard the door creak open, and turned her head slowly. Like she had anticipated, Lexa was standing in the doorway, her mouth drawn into a serious line. Her expression resembled a lot like hers when she had to deliver bad news to a patient.

"The peace is intact because of you. Reghan promised that not a single drop of blood will be shed. You truly fooled him," Lexa said, unmistakable awe clear in her voice.

"Just let me hear his conditions," Abby muttered.

Lexa lowered her gaze. "Of course. Skaikru will surrender one-fifth of their crop once a month to Broadleaf until the cost of the wedding is covered. He also made clear that not single one of us can set a foot on their territory ever again."

"I can live with that," Abby said dryly.

Lexa continued. "Kane is not going to be an ambassador of Skaikru anymore. He's also not allowed into Polis ever again."

Abby nodded. She already had a suspicion of what Reghan had in store for them.

"By his request, You will take his place as an ambassador. You will return to Polis with me and Clarke to accept the brand—"

Abby drew in a deep breath.

—and stay there. Infinitely," she finished for Lexa.

"I'm sorry," Lexa answered.

Abby shook her head. "Don't be. I knew something like this would happen."

Her idea had worked perfectly. As Indra had said, If there was one thing Reghan liked more than killing people, it was punishing people for being dishonest to him. Nobody had needed to die because Abby had managed to poke at the prince's biggest weakness, his pettiness, by telling another ridiculous, desperate lie.

"Your idea was truly brilliant. Reghan didn't say a word about killing anyone. He only told me that you wouldn't have to see the man you detest so much ever again."

It was perfect punishment for her blatant lie. Abby loved Marcus, and Marcus loved her, and Reghan knew it. Not even killing them would bring him more joy than separating them and making them miserable for the rest of their life.

Abby had planted the idea in his head and made him unwittingly salvage the peace just to get his revenge. But she would have to pay the price with her own heart.

"Reghan also annulled your marriage," Lexa said with a quiet voice.

"Of course he did," Abby said, trying her hardest to blink back tears. Her hand fell protectively over the metal band in her hand. She couldn't give up another one. "Can I at least keep the ring?"

"No, Reghan was very strict about that." Lexa hesitated a moment before continuing. "Kane already gave up his."

Nothing Lexa could've said would've hurt her more than hearing that.

"Did— did he understand that I didn't mean any of those words I said?" Abby asked with a weak voice.

"He did," Lexa said. "He wanted to thank you for saving everyone. He also apologized."

"For what?"

"For everything. That's what he wanted me to tell you."

Abby swallowed back a prickly lump in her throat. She knew in what kind of a state of mind Marcus was currently, and she couldn't allow him to do this to himself. "Please. Is there any way I could talk to—?"

"He left an hour ago back to Arkadia."

A silence.

"I'm sorry," Abby faintly heard Lexa add almost as an afterthought. Then she said something about Clarke wanting to see her and something about heading to Polis in the morning. She was not sure what she answered to Lexa, but it had to be something biting because the younger woman clenched her jaw. She said one last thing to her with a stern voice, but Abby couldn't hear it. Her head was filled with a buzz that seemed to be the only constant in her numb body.

Lexa stalked off the room, shutting the door after her. The small light that had poured from the open doorway vanished.

She was left sitting alone in complete darkness, unable to breathe.


	9. Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa and Indra have different ideas on how to help Abby and Marcus deal with their separation. Marcus intends to pine until the end of time while Abby would rather use her time tormenting Reghan. There is a reckless plan which brings happy, albeit unintended results. Lexa finally gets to take a nap.

Ever since the disaster that had been the Kane-Griffin wedding, dinners with Clarke had been a rather chilly occurrence for Lexa. 

"How was your day, ai niron?" Lexa asked in a gentle voice. "Same old, same old. Continued the water negotiations with Trishanakru, did some training, comforted my mother who is still miserable by the way, hmm, what else?"

Judging by the sarcasm dripping from Clarke's voice and the pinched look on her face, Lexa could spot the start of a potential domestic squabble. For a brief second, she considered sending Indra - who was standing silently in the corner - away. Unfortunately, Clarke opened her mouth in an angry outburst before she could do so.

"I can't believe you have done absolutely nothing about the situation. It’s been three months!

 _Let the blaming commence,_ Lexa thought wearily. 

"Three months of peace," she added calmly before taking a sip of her wine. 

Which wasn’t the answer Clarke had hoped for if her deadly glare was anything to go by. 

Lexa sighed. "What do you want me to do? Wrap your mother in white silk, veil her and send her to Arkadia with a note 'Never mind the treaty, here's your wife back' attached to her?" 

She truly wished she could do that, but the facts were that Kane wasn't allowed in Polis and Abby could never leave. Those were Reghan's sadistic little terms. The second this deal broke, she’d have a huge and ugly mess in her hands. A mess which would lead to the complete destruction of the peace between the clans, not to mention countless of deaths. 

For Lexa personally, it was a classic damned if you, damned if you don’t scenario since keeping the peace seemed to make Clarke hate her more and more each day. At this pace, they would never get married. 

Of course, Lexa knew that Clarke's mother was unhappy. It was difficult not to know since Lexa came face to face with the woman every time she visited the healers or when Abby joined them for dinner, which was practically every other night. Not that Lexa minded. She liked Abby and considered her a blessing to the whole city. It had been a brilliant idea to have her train new healers. Villages from every clan were starting to send their best and brightest to her and Lexa suspected that this had single-handedly saved more lives than anything Abby could've managed Arkadia-based. But Lexa loathed witnessing how she suffered. 

Lexa had always admired Abby's remarkable strength, but the quiet way she tried to keep her misery to herself and the poor excuse of a smile she tried to force on her face while Clarke was present twisted Lexa’s stomach in a painful knot. 

Goddammit, why did it have to be just Kane that she wanted?

He was a good man, Lexa couldn’t - nor wouldn’t - deny that, but there were hundreds of other handsome, strong warriors in Polis who would form quite a line if Abby decided to marry again. 

"Have you tried talking to her?" Lexa attempted. "About Arvid, or any man I've mentioned...? 

That was what made Clarke finally snap. 

"For god's sake, you're not marrying my mother off!" The blonde shouted while jumping up from her place at the table. Without glancing back she stormed out of the room, effectively slamming the door shut.

Lexa covered her face with her hand in exasperation.

"What did I say wrong this time?" She sighed to Indra. 

Indra pointedly kept the answer to herself.

* * *

Abby supposed she was doing well enough. She had a lot of work to keep herself busy; a neverending flow of patients with injuries varying from scrapes on their knees to arrows misplaced in their shoulders along with trainees following her every step. It was enough to make her so exhausted that she was lost to sleep the second her head hit the pillow every night. 

But the mornings were the worst. Everyone started their day slowly in Polis which meant that Abby had all too much time to lay in her vast, empty bed and dwell on everything she had lost. She missed Jackson gravely; every time she entered the healer's hall she half-expected the young man to call out her name and it ached in her chest when she remembered that he was back in Arkadia. She missed Raven, Bellamy, even Murphy and his snarky comments. What she wouldn't give to hear the hustle of the delinquents around her again.

But they could always come see her. Jackson had paid her two visits and would make another trip to Polis when his schedule cleared again. It was a busy time for the only doctor in Arkadia. The same for Raven. She and some others tried to visit her as often as they could considering the distance. But at least she could see her daughter every day which hadn't been possible when she had resided in Arkadia and Clarke in Polis. So she really shouldn't have anything to complain about. Her friends visited her and called her on the radio, and her daughter was never out of reach. She was continuously improving the world around her by training new healers. 

There was still one thing setting a heavy weight on her heart that she tried not to think about. However, her treacherous mind always returned to that, or rather, _to him_ , during those languid Polis mornings. 

As quickly she had discovered her love to Marcus, as quickly she had been forced to stifle it out. She wasn't ashamed to admit it. She was actively suppressing her feelings for him because she understood that everything would be a lot easier to bear if she didn't love him as much as she did. But in the end, she never even succeeded in stopping her heart from lurching as she formed his name with her lips.

The agony of trying not to think about him almost made her wish that he had never revealed his feelings and made love to her. Unrequited feelings would have been simpler to deal with. She then wouldn’t know how it felt to be loved by Marcus, but at least she wouldn’t have to experience the pain of knowing that every single rush of love for him she felt in the lonely hours of the morning was reciprocated. 

Or at least Abby presumed that they were reciprocated. No word had come from Arkadia. Lexa didn't allow her to call him on the radio or deliver any messages to him in the fear of one of Reghan's minions finding out. But Abby would still appreciate it if he delivered some kind words through Indra since the grounder woman was in charge of making sure that part of the goods produced each month in Arkadia was delivered to Reghan as a form of repayment. This meant she saw Marcus every month, and, on top of that, adhered very loosely to the no-communication rule between Marcus and Abby. Abby used it to her advantage as much as she could.

Indra was saddling her horse with some other Lexa's warriors as Abby approached her. It seemed that she had already been expecting her because she turned to Abby before she had even called out her name. 

"Are you heading to Arkadia again?" Abby asked carefully. 

"It's that time of the month." 

"If you see Marcus—"

"Of course I'm going to see him. He's the Chancellor," Indra grunted. 

"Abby pinched her eyes shut. "When you see him, could you tell him that..." 

She hesitated. She was starting to feel silly with every time she tried to ask Indra to send Marcus her love since he gave her nothing in return. The last time Indra had told her that Marcus had inquired after her health. The time before that, Marcus had hoped that she rested enough. Every message was as carefully and cordially formed as possible. It was slowly driving her mad.

"Tell him that I hope everything is running smoothly in Arkadia," Abby eventually said. 

Indra drew her mouth into a thin line. "Is there nothing else you want to say to him?" 

"No," came her weak reply. 

It was probably just her imagination, but Indra seemed gravely disappointed in her answer.

* * *

In Indra's opinion, Lexa had no right to complain about Abby's downcast spirit. At least she didn't have to see Kane every month. Indra was close enough to see the gates of Arkadia and already dreaded the encounter she was about to have. 

Kane, as always, was waiting for her on the other side of the fence. He attempted a smile as their gazes met. "Attempted "was an appropriate word for it. One corner of his mouth gave a pathetic little jerk. The man hadn't looked happy in months and Indra suspected he had even forgotten how to do so.

"I'm so glad to see you, my friend," Kane greeted stiffly.

Indra could see the white lace draped over his wrist as he shook her hand. She wasn't surprised to see that Kane still had Abby's garter wrapped around his hand nor that a second later he pulled his sleeve down to cover it from Indra's pitying gaze. 

Pity him, she did. Kane had always been a serious, respectable man but Indra could see a drastic difference between the man he was before and the pensive, unsmiling version of himself he had turned into almost overnight as he had been forced to part from Abby.

"We're a little low on carrots..." Kane explained as they toured the garden sometime later, the men under Indra's command mercilessly emptying the yield to boxes going straight to Reghan.

Indra was surprised at Kane's self-control. Judging by the way he was clutching the piece of lace in his hand he'd gathered every ounce of his willpower to skirt the subject he truly wanted to talk about. 

"Is everyone in the Polis alright?" He finally choked out, 

"Abby is well," Indra said bluntly. 

"Oh. Good. I'm glad to hear that," he said, running his fingers through his hair. "She is healthy, happy?"

"Healthy, yes. Happy, no." 

Marcus said nothing to that, although Indra could've sworn she saw his lower lip slightly quiver. 

"Isn't there anything you want to say to her?" she prompted. 

"Please tell her that I wish her well. And that I miss her," he murmured. "As a colleague and friend," he added quickly. 

It was interesting that Kane was still going the route of pretending that the wedding had never even happened. Indra wasn't sure if it was some sort of a twisted defense mechanism or if he truly just wanted to distance himself from her. Either way, Indra was starting to lose her patience.

She decided to try something new. “She won't be unhappy for too long, I believe. She has garnered a lot of attention from the warriors visiting Polis. One of these days someone will take her with him." 

Marcus swallowed tightly. "Good for her." 

Indra didn't know what she had expected as an answer. Nevertheless, she smacked him on the arm. 

"Branwoda, grow a damn spine! Just write her a letter where you tell her that you love and miss her and how much you want to... whatever you want to do to her, I don't need to hear that. I'll deliver the message to her and let you both out of your misery." 

Marcus' eyes were intently fixed on the carrots. "That does little to change our situation, it might even make everything worse. I just don't want to cause her any more pain than necessary. It’s better if we both... just forget it."

"It doesn't look like you're doing much forgetting," Indra said dryly, looking pointedly at the garter peeking from under his sleeve. Marcus brought his hand behind him, faint color climbing up his neck.

"Please, just admit that you love and miss her." 

"There's nothing in the whole world I wouldn't give to see her right now," Marcus murmured, his gaze downcast.  

"Good. I'll tell her that." 

Marcus' jaw tightened. "No, you won't." 

"I will," she said, puzzled at the resolve in her friend's voice. 

"Trust me, you won't. I know you'll understand me, Indra." 

She groaned. Sometimes talking with Kane was like wrestling a wild horse with your hands tied behind your back. 

Indra left him and the camp of Arkadia in a bad mood. If Kane could actually see how his wife was faring Indra could spit "I know you'll understand me" right back at him. Every time Indra visited him she started to seriously consider just smuggling Abby to him. She was so tiny, how hard could it be? 

But she never did it in the end. Kane would wring her neck if she risked Abby's safety in any way.

The very second Indra and her entourage entered Polis again Kane's little wife was already scampering towards them, eager to hear if he had anything to say to her. Indra was prepared. She had plucked a small flower from the side of the road in order to claim it had come from Kane. She would tell Abby what he had said and then they'd both be happy for a while. That was all Indra wanted. 

Indra changed her mind as soon as she saw Abby's face. With her sad deer eyes and trembling hands clasped together against her chest, she looked more fragile than Indra had ever seen her.

Her face was going to crumble the minute Indra conveyed Kane's words. If she uttered them, Abby would definitely start crying in front of her and Indra would have no idea what to do. How was she supposed to comfort Abby about the fact she wasn't allowed to see Kane even though he loved her and missed her terribly? 

No, Indra couldn't do it. 

If Indra hadn't realized it earlier, she did now. These small exchanges delivered through her were not meant for sorrowful vows of love, but only for reassurance that the other one was safe. That was the smallest amount of comfort they could enjoy in their situation. 

"Kane wanted me to tell you that he wishes you're well and misses your guidance," Indra said, crushing the flower in her fist. She wasn't capable of undoing months of slow recovery. 

Abby looked slightly disappointed, but at least she wasn't weeping. 

"The next time you see him, tell him that I wish he's well too," Abby said softly, putting on a brave smile. Indra was relieved to see it. 

Kane, that darned man, maybe had a point.

* * *

Eventually, the greetings Marcus delivered with Indra morphed from "I wish you well" to "I wish you all the happiness" which was a tremendous, hopeful change for Abby. One time she wondered if she'd be bold enough to ask Indra to kiss Marcus on the cheek for her but she knew the woman would die of mortification at the very thought. She kept the suggestion unvoiced.

Abby pondered over some other ways to show that she cared without actually saying the words and it was enough to keep her busy for a few weeks. But soon none of that mattered anymore because one gloomy morning Broadleaf men marched into Polis for the peace treaty review.

"You're a month early," Lexa said through gritted teeth to Reghan who waltzed into her throne room in an infuriatingly good mood.

"I thought I'd have a little longer visit this time, see what Polis has to offer," Reghan said, looking around the room with keen eyes as if he was already measuring up the room for his own furniture. Lexa didn't like it one bit.

"And where is the lovely bride?" he asked.

"Who?" Lexa said, playing dumb. The last thing she needed was Reghan harassing Abby.

"You know who I mean. Abby Griffin."

"She hasn't been a bride for five months," Lexa said coolly. "You made sure of that."

"Oh, I forgot," he said, feigning absent-mindedness. "Anyway, bring her to me."

"She is working."

"Bring. Her. To. Me."

Lexa pinched the bridge of her nose and gestured Indra to go fetch Abby.

Abby was still wearing a bloody coat as she was brought in front of Reghan. She offered him her gloved hand with a sardonic smirk and managed to coat his palm with a cloudy liquid which the prince looked reluctant to know the origin of. He wiped his hand on the cape of his guard. 

"I'm presuming there is a good reason for calling me here," Abby said. "I was actually in a middle of something."

"I can see that," Reghan said dryly. "I merely wanted to tell you, as you're the ambassador of Skaikru, that I arranged that my men would take over the monthly deliveries from Arkadia.”

Abby furrowed her brow.

Reghan continued. "There is no need for Lexa to make her own people do something so... trivial. Although I do appreciate the gesture. From this moment on, a couple of my most trusted men is going to check the deliveries until the debt is paid."

"I'd still prefer to join," Indra said.

"You won't be doing that," Reghan said while looking straight into Abby's eyes, a grin playing on his lips.

Well then. Reghan just had cut off the only link Abby still had with Marcus and the bastard knew exactly what he was doing. Abby clenched her hands into fists.

"Is something wrong, Dr. Griffin? You look a bit tense."

Abby smiled tightly. "Nothing at all. I'd just like to get back to work now that this is resolved."

"You're free to do so."

"Thank you." Abby gave him a quick, mockery of a curtsy. Before walking out, she turned to give him one last retort.

"Oh and also, it's Dr. Kane." 

At first Reghan was so taken aback he couldn't choke out a response. Then his expression gradually darkened. "Excuse me?"

"That's my name. I hope you'll press it _deep_ in your mind so that you'll remember it the next time." 

With that said, she turned around and stalked off the room, leaving Reghan slack-jawed in her wake.

* * *

Lexa was not someone who would normally beg or even consider doing so. But different times were dawning now that she'd had to endure two weeks of hell with Abby, or rather, vengeful Mrs. Kane in the vicinity of Reghan. They both were doing their absolute best to drive each other mad and doing the same to Lexa in the process.

"Clarke, I'm begging you. Tell your mother to control herself," she pleaded Clarke for what had to be the hundredth time.

"What do you mean?" Clarke asked innocently, poking her meal with her fork. 

Lexa shot her a glare. "You know exactly what I mean. For instance, your mother keeps signing her medical report as Abigail Kane. The last time I checked, her marriage to Kane had been completely annulled and her name was Griffin. She also had the brilliant idea to tie a small silvery ribbon around the ring finger of her left hand. You can imagine how _happy_ Reghan was to see that." 

"For all I know, she isn’t doing anything wrong. I thought a grounder was able to choose any name she or he wanted." 

"Yes, but—" 

"And can't she wear any accessories she likes? It's only a ribbon." 

Lexa clenched her jaw. "Clarke, ai niron, can't you see how this is provoking Reghan?" 

"The prince is being just as provocative with her. Just last week he filled her room with the flowers she had in her hair when she married Marcus. It took hours to get them all out, and even longer to get mom to calm down. He also took a lock of her hair. Walked straight to her and cut it off with his dagger without saying a word. Mom still shivers in disgust when she thinks about it." 

"What would he do with a lock of Abby's hair?" Lexa asked, rubbing her temples. 

"I think he just wanted to unnerve her. That's what he has been doing this whole time. But It won't be long until mom has had enough. _I think_ Reghan should be more scared of her than us of him." 

"Clarke—" 

"Just you wait, niron, just you wait."

Lexa buried her head in her hands. Pramheda have mercy on them.

* * *

Meanwhile in Arkadia, Marcus was delivered an envelope with a Broadleaf seal on it. 

In any other situation, he would've trashed the letter as soon as he caught the sight of it because he had no energy or desire to read one of Reghan's taunts. He received threatening messages from him at regular intervals, usually concerning the monthly deliveries that were diminishing in quantity. If Reghan had a problem with the fact that Marcus wanted to feed his people too he could come to him and talk it through like a man and not hide behind his lavish envelopes.

But he'd heard from Bellamy that Reghan had arrived in Polis early. He was in the same city as the woman Marcus loved and he couldn't help but be worried. So he ripped the envelope open. 

_Thank you for this month's goods. Currently enjoying your strawberries with your bride. She'd send her greetings but she had trouble recalling you when I told her who I was writing to. As a consolation, I'm sending you a little something from her. May it warm your heart during the lonely years to come._

_Prince Reghan, the ruler of Broadleaf nation, the son of..._

Marcus crumpled up the paper and threw it aside. 

He sighed, resting his forehead against his palm for a moment before finding the courage to turn the envelope upside down.

A lock of hair rolled out.

He took it carefully in his hands and brushed his thumb over the soft brown strands with a heavy, fearful heart. He observed the lock quietly, deep in thought.

Eventually, he turned on the radio. 

"Nathan? Could you get the Rover ready for me? I need to make a small trip."

* * *

The review of the peace treaty had finally started in Polis, and every clan leader was gathered together to enjoy a feast and discuss how well everyone had held onto their part. This also meant that Abby was forced to be in a room with 11 other leaders for hours at the time, including insufferable Reghan and Lexa who was starting to resemble something very frightening with the dark bags under her eyes and her never-fading scowl. 

But she could do it. One breath at the time, she could manage it. That was at least what she kept telling herself during the first five minutes of the first meeting, her hand clutching a cup of wine with white knuckles.

"Em din don las," Reghan was telling the others who were curious and saddened to see Abby, the bride they had celebrated so thoroughly six months ago, in Polis without Marcus nor a ring in her finger. _It didn't last._

"Choumoda?" _Why?_

"Skaihefa nona shanen houmon-de sad kamp fostaim nat raun ai in, nou em", Reghan said, grinning, knowing well that Abby understood Trigedasleng perfectly. _Skaihefa wasn't happy with the fact the bride chose to stay the first night with me instead of him._

Abby bowed her head down to hide her enraged expression.

"Em don komba rauh as klin em raun, won tich em op ai bleirona, em don ron we wid bran hosen," he continued, chuckling. _He came to demand her back, one flash of my sword he ran away with soiled pants._

The other clan leaders didn't look amused, making Reghan clear his throat. "Em ste shanen nau. Em no teina de wuskripa nou mo. Em don teik em daun teina em, nami? She is happier now. _She's not married to that monster anymore. He forced to her marry him, know what I mean?_

"Bushhada," Reghan added. _Coward._

At least Abby could find comfort in the fact that the expressions on the other's faces revealed exactly who much they wanted to put Reghan down too. The man sitting next to her even rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

"I'm sorry," the Trishanakru leader whispered with a thick accent. 

"It's okay," she answered, taking a large gulp of her wine. 

"Might I suggest we move on?" Lexa said with a chilly voice. 

When the room grew quiet she began again. "Let us commence by saying—" 

She was interrupted by Indra storming in the room. 

"We have a small problem," she said somberly.

Indra guided Lexa to the open wall of the throne room with the others in tow. She pointed out to the small, barely discernible black dot near the south entrance of the city. 

"That's the Skaikru car just by the gate," she said. "Can you guess who's sitting inside?" 

Lexa looked at the sight, incredulous. 

"It can't be." 

"It is. I sent some men to check, it's _Kane_." 

"Let me see that," Reghan said, pushing past the others. When he saw the black dot of the vehicle from a distance, his eyes widened in rage. 

"Has he lost his mind? He knew what would happen if he came here!" he roared. 

"Calm yourself. He still outside the city walls. He hasn't done anything wrong," Lexa said slowly. 

"Yet!" Reghan hissed. "I'm going to him."

"Remember the deal," Lexa said sternly. As hot-headed Reghan was, he usually had enough sense to hold onto his bargains if they were to his advantage.

"I'm only going to have a _word_ with him," Reghan answered. "Meanwhile, this woman is not allowed a thousand feet from the south gate!" He yelled, pointing at Abby who was looking at the car with quiet astonishment, her hand resting on her heart.

"That is quite a challenge. The healer's hall is by the gate," Indra said dryly. 

"100 feet then!" 

Indra shook her head slowly. "It's right by the gate," she muttered. 

Reghan gritted his teeth. "Fine. Ten feet it is. And two of my men will accompany her at all times to make sure she follows my order!" 

Reghan stalked out of the room, leaving the other leaders confused in the throne room. 

"The meeting is adjourned for now," Lexa said, dispersing the group. The people returned to their quarters, leaving Lexa alone with Indra and Abby. 

"Did you know about this?" she asked Abby with a frosty voice. 

"No," Abby answered quickly, her eyes still fixed on the car. 

"Very well then. Can you give me one good reason why I shouldn't go break both of your husband's legs right now?" 

Abby wrenched her head around. "He isn't doing anything wrong!" she snapped. 

"Do you think he is doing something _right_ by being here? Because I don't believe for a single second that whatever he is planning doesn't involve forcing his way to you in some way." 

"He's not doing anything wrong," she repeated again with a small voice. Even though the idea that Marcus had come for her thrilled her to the very bone, she knew he'd never risk the peace in that way. No, there had to be something else he was planning.

Lexa clenched her eyes shut. "Indra, go make sure Reghan plays nice with Kane and try to find out what his plan is. Abby, you stay here. Don't even think about going to talk to him."

"I promise," Abby said, gazing down at the Rover. She wondered if Marcus knew she was up here, watching him. Her heart fluttered at the thought that he was thinking of her too.

* * *

 arcus had been calmly waiting for Reghan outside of the Rover, leaning against the side of it. After Indra had been only barely able to prevent Reghan from attacking Marcus the moment he caught the sight of him, Lexa ordered that no one was allowed to approach the man under any circumstances. She didn't even trust Indra to talk to him. The woman had had a far too calculating expression recently while she studied the small distance between the healer's hall and the Rover behind the gate. One morning Lexa would wake up to the news that Indra had hand-delivered Abby to Kane in the dark of the night and she could only blame herself.

The days turned into weeks. And yet the Rover stayed by the south entrance. Lexa suspected that Marcus had packed the car full of food rations to last him weeks, it was the only explanation for why he would take such a big vehicle instead of a horse. But the reason why he intended to stay long enough to need that amount of food remained unclear.

"What is he planning?" Lexa would hiss in the middle of the night, pacing in her room. Clarke would only answer with a drowsy "come back to bed." 

Unlike Lexa, Abby was in a better mood than in months. Even though she had two armed men following in her wake every part of the day, she was filled with joy and energy every morning as she walked past the wall in order to go to work. Through the chain-link fence, she could see Marcus climb out of the Rover the moment she passed by.

He looked more handsome than ever despite his weary features and messy dark locks. They would link gazes and Abby would attempt a tentative smile at him and he would look back at her with soft eyes before Reghan's guard wrenched her away. That always made Marcus' expression darken. 

It was no use trying to mouth "What are you doing here?" to him. Marcus would just look at her gently and shake his head, mouthing "stay safe" to her in return. If Abby didn't try to say anything to him, he just looked at her with his sorrowful, longing gaze which pierced Abby's heart in half. 

After a while, Abby started asking herself "What is he planning?" too.

* * *

Reghan had never been tenser.

They were unable to hold a single meeting to its completion because the prince would get so unnerved at the looming presence of Marcus Kane that he had an outburst of anger over any detail, no matter how small. 

Lexa knew that he was close to a nervous wreck when one time she asked if he was feeling well the man flipped over the small table in front of him and stormed out. 

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was scared," Indra muttered sarcastically to her.

Lexa smiled. "Over a one-man siege?" 

The corner of Indra's mouth tugged too at the thought. "One-man siege consisting of Kane, maybe," she said. 

It was hard for anyone in the room not to be amused, if only slightly frustrated. The Trisnahakru leader sighed and rose up from his chair. "I'll you see all tomorrow."

"Maybe then the big _fyucha_ will be more cooperative," Lexa comforted, making him smile wearily. 

"May I be excused too?" Abby asked. 

Lexa shifted her gaze to her and noticed her red-rimmed eyes immediately. Even though she had been happy at first, the woman seemed to be taking Marcus' presence harder day by day now, just like Reghan. 

"Go ahead," Lexa said. 

The Trishanakru leader's eyes followed Abby as she left the room. His mouth twisted into a concerned frown.

"Was it Reghan who caused this?" he asked after she was gone. "That Skaihefa can't enter the city?" 

Lexa didn't find any harm in offering him an affirmative nod. 

The man exchanged looks with others.

* * *

Marcus' back was killing him. 

For a man of his age, spending several weeks in the Rover was starting to make the dancing stars behind his eyelids permanent. He hissed in pain as he forced himself up from the driver's seat and stepped out. The only thing that brought him even the smallest amount of relief was stretching his legs at regular intervals in the area far enough from the gate to make any potential archers unable to reach him. 

But there was something that had the capability of making him forget every bit of his discomfort in an instant. It was far more effective than walking but caused a different sort of agony to consume him. 

He saw Abby.

Marcus immediately abandoned the vehicle and walked closer to the fence to see her better. There she was, escorted by the guards as always. She looked sad or tired, Marcus couldn't get close enough to discern. But she was still beautiful. Unreally so. Marcus wasn't sure if it was only because of her proximity he had been denied for months, but she seemed more ethereal than ever. As he looked at her hunched shoulders, he was tempted to knock down the wired fence with the Rover just to get near her. He longed to take her in his arms, cradle her head against his chest and whisper comforting words into her hair like before they were even lovers. 

Abby glanced at him, and Marcus was briefly considering mouthing her the words that had been locked inside his chest for months. But the moment was over as quickly as it had begun. Abby's eyes were directed away again and she disappeared from sight. 

Marcus clenched his eyes shut and leaned against the Rover. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to come here in the first place. Nathan, Bellamy, Raven, almost everyone in the camp had told him so. Not only did it cause insufferable pain to see Abby so near but yet so far, it undoubtedly caused the tension to rise in Polis as well. 

But he couldn't afford to be selfish right now and leave. He was doing this for her, and only for her. 

He took Abby's garter in his hand and fiddled with the lacy material as he counted down the days. It couldn't be long now until it happened. Then he could go back to Arkadia to mourn his loss in peace.

* * *

The next morning as the leaders were gathering to the throne room once again, Reghan marched right past everyone to the open wall. As he saw that the Rover was still there, even after three weeks, he balled his hand into a fist. 

When he turned around, his ashen face betrayed how shaken he was. He was barely able to keep himself from trembling as he returned to his seat. 

"Em bushhada," someone whispered. _He's the coward._

This made Reghan wrench a bowl of fruit from the table and slam it against a wall. It shattered into million pieces on the floor. Lexa shot up from her throne. 

"Chil yu au!" she hissed. 

"I'd like to change our deal," Reghan said, his voice shaking with barely contained anger."Skaihefa dies. Everyone else lives and the treaty is unaffected. The doctor can even go home. Those are my new terms." 

Abby froze in terror as she saw Lexa actually consider his offer, stroking her jaw with a thoughtful expression on her face. But it was only a ruse which she revealed by rolling her eyes a moment later. 

"No," she said with a firm voice. "You cannot change the terms once the deal has been struck." 

Reghan took one step closer to her. 

"That bastard tricked me, lied to me, tried to make a fool out of me! It is my right to order my men to kill him!" 

"Can't do it yourself?" The Trishanakru leader called out, amused. People around him chuckled. 

The man next to him whispered something in his ear, prompting him to continue. "I'm sorry," he drawled. "I didn't take into account that Skaihefa would kill you before the piss had stopped running down your leg. It would be a shame since I'd hate to wait for your replacer before the peace talks can finally continue." 

Reghan gritted his teeth as the people in the room smiled at him

"You are mocking me. Fine, let's make a new deal then. How about you keep your mouths shut as I slice off the head of Skaihefa's little whore, throw it in his feet and then skin him alive. In exchange, everyone in this room gets to live." 

The smiles faded and a deadly silence descended on the room. 

"That would be a very serious offense to the treaty," Lexa said with a grave tone. 

"The treaty is hereby broken," Reghan said, lowering his hand on the sheath of his sword. Only to remember that it wasn't there. No weapons were allowed in the throne room. He looked around for his guards, but they were gone too. 

The Trishanakru leader rose slowly up. "The treaty is broken," he repeated slowly. "I'm no longer your ally, and I just heard you threaten the lovely wife of the leader of Skaikru who I consider a friend."

Others started rising up from their seats too, prompting Reghan to take a step back. His face turned white in a mere fraction of a second. 

"That was an ill-advised joke," Reghan said with a hoarse voice. 

"I'm not laughing," Abby said, leaning back in her seat, arms crossed. 

"Didn't you hear? The lady's not laughing," the sturdy Delphi leader said, giving Reghan a shove. He was forced to retreat towards the throne. 

He shot a pleading look at Lexa. _Make them stop._

Lexa only quirked her eyebrow in response, an amused smile flickering across her features.

Reghan rubbed his hands together, forcing an amiable expression on his face. He directed his eyes at Abby this time. 

"Dr. Griffin—"

"Kane," Abby corrected, clacking her tongue. 

"Dr. Kane, I feel like I've been impolite. Your husband is right outside, and I haven't even invited him in. How about I organize a quick feast in his honor, and we forget everything that has happened?" 

To everyone's great surprise, Abby nodded with a smile. "Fine by me. Go take a look if he's still there." 

Reghan flashed her a look full of contempt before turning around to look out of the open wall. "Of course he's still there—" 

After receiving affirmative looks from the others, the Trishanakru leader gave Reghan's back a rough shove.

* * *

Not even the miraculous hands of Dr. Kane were able to save Reghan after a several hundred feet drop. Abby knew a lost cause when she saw one. She was saved from a lot of work when none of Broadleaf men demanded an autopsy. Apparently, the unanimous eye-witness account of thirteen clan leaders was enough for stifle out any suspicions about his fate. "An accidental, alcohol-induced fall," Abby wrote down on her report.

Lexa had never been happier as she watched from the window Reghan's men leave Polis with the prince's body. She kept shaking her head, smiling. "I can't believe it. I could actually kiss Kane right now."

Instead of doing that, she walked over to Clarke and gave her a giant smooch. The girl smiled. "Somebody's in a good mood." 

"Not every day your greatest enemy gets himself killed by doing something that stupid. All thanks to Kane's infuriating presence. I don't know what he was trying to do, perhaps I never will, but it all worked out _gloriously_."

Indra stepped into her quarters and was the next person Lexa directed her happiness at. 

"What are you still doing here? Go open the gate for Kane and bring him in. Let him enjoy a proper dinner and stay the night with his wife. If anything, he deserves at least that."

Indra looked at her solemnly before delivering the news. 

"He has left." 

Lexa's smile faded away. "What?" 

"The vehicle is no longer by the gate. I believe he drove away around the same time the Broadleaf carriages left."

"That makes absolutely no sense. He doesn't know yet that Reghan is dead and that he got everything he wanted, why would he suddenly just leave?" 

There was a slight, warm smile tugging at Indra's lips. "I have a theory." 

"Please, enlighten me." 

"Marcus did get everything he wanted, but not by hearing that Reghan was dead. No, the moment he saw the Broadleaf men leave his purpose had been fulfilled." 

Lexa pondered over her words for a moment. "He only intended to stay by the gate as long as Reghan was still in Polis," she said, her eyes lighting up in realization. 

"I don't follow," Clarke said.

"Your mother walked past the gate every morning on her way to work," Lexa explained. "And every morning, Marcus watched as she went in. That's the reason why he never ventured inside to the city. There was no need when he could see through the fence that Abby hadn't been harmed." 

Clarke lifted her hand to her cover her mouth. "Oh my god. He only wanted to protect her while Reghan was around." 

"Exactly. And in doing so, made Reghan unwittingly bring his downfall to himself." Lexa continued with a shaky voice, feeling suddenly emotional. "He slept three weeks in a car just to see that the woman he loved was safe." 

A silence. 

"I have been too rough on him, haven't I?" Lexa asked after a moment. 

Both Clarke and Indra nodded.

"Where's Abby? She must have been informed that—" 

"I told her the moment I noticed Kane had left. I also took the liberty of granting her a permission to leave Polis. But she probably hasn't caught up with him yet since she's on horseback and Kane has the car," Indra said. 

"Godspeed Abby, Godspeed," Lexa said, folding Clarke in her arms as she noticed that the girl had started to shed quiet tears of joy. 

* * *

Halfway across the way back to Arkadia, Marcus stopped by a pond to refill his water bottle. 

He was grateful for an excuse to step out of the Rover. Almost the whole time he'd sat behind the wheel his vision had been so blurry because of the unshed tears that he couldn't see straight. Not that he wasn't happy Abby was safe again. But it battered him to pieces that he didn't know the next time he would see her again, if ever. 

 _Get a grip_ , he said to himself. _She's better off without you_. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, clenching his jaw. 

As he crouched down to fill his bottle he heard a faint sound of approaching steps but didn't bother to look up. It was probably a Trikru warrior patrolling his part of the woods who would simply turn away with a grunt as soon as he recognized the emblems on Marcus' jacket. Besides, Marcus wanted to stay a little bit longer like this. He ran his fingers through the soft surface of the water, observing the ripples, dreaming of how things could've turned out differently.

The approaching steps persisted. Marcus didn't care. Let whoever had a problem with him rough him up a bit, it wasn't as if he was in a hurry to return to anyone.

He felt someone kneel next to him. Marcus had expected so fully someone to yank up him by his collar instead of settling down by his side that he couldn't help but freeze in astonishment. Before he could turn his gaze, there was the tender touch of a hand lowering itself on top of his.

"Marcus," murmured a soft, beautiful voice.

In an instant he was petrified.

It was _her_ voice, but it couldn't be. Only if this was one of his cruelest dreams.

He slowly turned his head. There she was, his co-chancellor, dearest friend, the woman he loved more than anything in the whole world, crouched down right beside him in all of her awe-inspiring beauty. There was a gentle smile playing on her lips, a warm look in her eyes. 

_Abby._

He was so overwhelmed by her presence that he didn't stop to think about what it meant. He reached out for her with trembling hands, one threading through her curls to hold the back of her head, the other cupping her face. He tentatively, reverently brushed his thumb over her cheekbone while Abby lifted her palm to rest against his, leaning into his touch with her eyes closed in quiet bliss. 

"Abby," he said with a hoarse voice. 

He joined their lips in a desperate, yearning kiss. Abby tasted like a dream, a wonderful, fragile one that could be shattered with just one careless move. So he didn't move. He only held her tenderly in his arms as the woman answered his kiss equal longing, curling her fingers into Marcus' unkempt hair, deepening the kiss with a low, breathy moan. 

As much as he wanted to only tighten his grip of her and forget the rest of the world he eventually had to force himself to snap out of his trance as he recalled why it was so absurd to be able to see and touch her in the first place. 

He withdrew his lips and directed his wide, startled eyes at her."What are you doing here? How were you even able to..."

He grabbed her waist and yanked her roughly up, causing a yelp to tumble from between Abby's lips. "I need to get you back before someone notices you're gone." 

Marcus tried to drag her to the Rover but her feet were firmly planted on the ground. She refused to move an inch no matter how hard Marcus tried to coax her into taking even a single step. 

"Dammit Abby, don't do this to me," he said through gritted teeth. He tried to fight it, but his nerve-endings were bursting into flames at the sheer feel of having her in his arms. It was growing harder and harder not just melt against her, lower her on the grass near the pond and just lie there quietly, tangled up in her. He was so _tired._

Abby pushed her head against his chest. "It's okay. Everything's okay. We're together again." 

"No, it's not," Marcus sighed. He had to return her even though every cell in his body was screaming at him to steal her away now that he had the change. He didn't believe he was capable of living one more day without her but still, he had to. "I love you, Abby," he murmured. "But I can't do this." 

Abby looked up at him, lifting her hand to stroke his beard. It was a dirty trick, she knew he couldn't help but close his eyes and sigh at her tender touch. "No, love. You can, you can do anything you want. Reghan is dead." 

Marcus' heart twisted into a knot. 

"What?" he asked with a shaky voice.

"He is dead. I examined the body, I'm sure. Nobody in the world is standing in our way anymore." Abby said, shaking her head, smiling with shiny eyes.

Marcus was still looking at her skeptically. Abby tried to lay a kiss on his lips again, but the man evaded her touch. "Why don't you believe me?" Abby asked, her voice growing desperate.

There was a large lump constricting Marcus' airway. He shifted his eyes away from Abby's burning gaze.

"Even if Reghan was dead and you were free—" he started, hesitant. "For six months, my actions made you unable to see your friends, to go home. I forced you to go through probably the most excruciating scheme of your whole life only for it to miserably fail. I find it hard to believe you'd forget all that in a heartbeat and come to me like this, so full of love and forgiveness. As if nothing bad had happened to you."

* * *

A silence followed as Marcus bowed down his head. The sight pierced her heart. How could the man she loved so much, _her husband_ , still feel so unworthy? Abby took his head tenderly in her hands, coaxing Marcus to look up. He did, with a pained look in his eyes which made Abby want to press her lips on every inch of his face in order to convince him of the contrary. 

"Oh Marcus," Abby murmured, tears welling up her eyes. "Nothing bad happened to me. I married you, how couldn't that discount _everything else?_ " 

She brushed her knuckles over his cheek which made Marcus' gaze flit to the silvery ribbon in her ring finger. With wide eyes, he caught her hand and turned it around so he could study it better. He brushed the ribbon with his thumb, letting out a shaky breath. 

"Even after everything? he asked, his voice barely a whisper, looking at the small piece of fabric like it meant the world to him.

"I'm still your wife," she confirmed.

Marcus clashed their lips together so violently she stumbled back a step, almost tumbling over into the pond. But Marcus' strong arms wrapped around her, catching her just in time. He'd always catch her. 

He held onto her tightly, his lips desperately seeking out hers again and again as he cradled the back of her head. He kissed her in like she was the one thing he had yearned all his life. Abby couldn't lie. It was _heavenly_. She let herself melt into his touch, her knees feeling weak and her mind foggy. It felt so good to be held by him again she could hardly think straight. She was only able to kiss him back and cling to him in desperation that would let go of her. He eventually did part, but only to voice things weighing on his heart and never unclasping his arms from around her. 

"Reghan sent me a lock of your hair. I was so afraid that something had happened to you I had to come. And when I saw that you were well, I had to stay to guard you until he left. It was tearing me apart not to know you were safe." 

"Up until then I thought you were indifferent," Abby breathed out. 

"How could you even think that?" Marcus said, leaning forward to press his lips against every teary patch on her face. "I was only trying to protect your heart. I thought you were the one who had forgotten all about me." 

"Never, never, never." 

Marcus encased her completely in his tight embrace, making her feel like the tiniest but most precious thing in the whole world. He kept kissing her so hard, so relentlessly she could barely breathe, but she supposed he wasn't faring well in her grip either. Her nails were digging through his uniform. The taste of his tongue made her feel so powerful, so invigorated that she wouldn't be surprised if she was able to draw blood. 

Abby's fingers rose to roughly tangle in his hair which made Marcus even more furious in his motions. He surged forward in another violent kiss. The impossible burn she felt for him was starting to become so overwhelming that she feared she would pass out if she didn't get more of him, _all of him_ , immediately. 

"You can't even imagine how much I've missed you," Marcus said, parting. "I missed your voice, your messy ponytail, even your fiery eyes when I did something wrong, your lips..." 

"As I much I'd love hearing all about that," Abby said, trying to draw him back in. "It's been six months. _Six months._ "

"Oh," Marcus said, his usual dopey expression looking even more so with his lips swollen from kissing. To give him another hint, Abby started teasing the buttons of her blouse while gazed up at him through her dark lashes. Marcus' eyes darkened instantly.

"Will the Rover do?" he asked. 

"To hell with the Rover. Take me here." 

Marcus didn't need much encouragement. In mere seconds she was on her back, the grass beneath her while his burning fingertips crept under her shirt, too impatient to wait for her to strip. His hands roamed over her body, his lips occasionally joining in the action as he took in everything he had been so long denied while Abby could only gasp and squirm under his ministrations. The shivery feel of grass pressing against her back only intensified the sensations. 

"My wife," he whispered in her ear, easing her out of her panties.

"Yes," Abby answered. "Yes, yes, yes." 

It didn't take long until her breathy "yes"s turned into incomprehensible whimpers and moans as Marcus latched his lips on the hollow of her throat and started filling her with maddening slowness. It felt so good to have him inside her again tears sprang into Abby's eyes. He kept pushing into her with just the amount of force and yearning that their six-month separation had every right to call for. Abby's vision blurred with pleasure. 

After some time Marcus gave one last, vigorous thrust that tipped her over the edge. She came apart with a gasp so loud Marcus felt the need to muffle it with his lips. After all, they were in a forest where anyone could hear them; a fact that inexplicably made Abby's whole body tingle with excitement. 

After their lovemaking, Marcus wrapped up her body into a blanket he'd fetched from the Rover and brushed his lips against her bare shoulder. They sat huddled together by the pond, slowly relishing in the fluttery afterglow and each other's loving, unhurried touches. Marcus was adorning soft kisses over her knuckles as Abby gazed down at him with a soft smile playing on her lips. 

"I don't deserve you," he whispered. 

"Don't you start again." 

"I'm serious. It still puzzles me whatever I've done to earn all this _happiness_. You... you've made me so much better. You have given me light when there was none, saved me when there should have been no way out, made me happier than I ever thought I had right to be. To say that I love you would be an understatement." 

Abby gave a gentle laugh to hide the impossible warmth flooding into every inch of her body at his words. 

"God Marcus, how do you expect me to respond since you closed out the option of saying 'I love you' back?" 

"Just hear me out," he said, taking Abby's hands in his. "I know we are no longer married. Not officially at least, Reghan made sure the annulment was completed. But maybe it's a good thing."

Abby lifted her brow which made Marcus smile warmly at her. "Let me explain." 

"This is another chance for me. I want to fix my initial mistake; I didn't realize my feelings soon enough to go the traditional route and wed you much, much sooner. But I promise I'll do everything properly this time around. I'll court you, love you, cherish you until I feel like it's the right time, ask for Clarke's blessing and if she consents only then I'll make my proposal. I really hope you both say yes because I don't know what I'll do with myself If I won't get to marry you again—"

Abby cupped his cheek and pressed her lips firmly against his in order to silence him. "All that is nice, but I truly need nothing else if I get to be with you," she said. 

Marcus smiled at her, his face beaming with something that could only be pure, unadulterated love for her. Abby's heart was full of similar, overwhelming emotion. It made her wonder how long it had been inside of her. And why it had simmered below the surface for so long. 

The romantic in her liked to think that she was always going to marry Marcus, but the piece of information had been revealed to her only when the time had been right: after Jake, after Marcus and her had slowly rebuilt their friendship, after he had stood up in front of the wedding guests and admitted his unconditional love for her. 

Abby would've preferred a simpler route, but she guessed there was no arguing with the fate. Sometimes the universe had mysterious ways of working. 

"Then I promise that I'm never leaving your side again," Marcus said. 

This was sealed with a tender kiss.

* * *

As soon as Lexa received word that Abby was safely back in Arkadia, she crawled into her bed and took the longest nap of her life. When she woke up she walked up to Clarke with faltering steps and proposed to her immediately. After hearing her consent, Lexa declared that she would never organize another wedding ever again, not without a sword against her neck, so Clarke was on her own on this. Clarke gave her a playful smack until she realized Lexa was being deadly serious. They ended up eloping. 

The peace lasted. Reghan's throne was ascended by his cousin twice removed who had little interest in any sort of conflict. He sent a word to Arkadia that the monthly deliveries would be discontinued and apologized on Reghan's behalf. Even though the message was welcome, it still unnerved Marcus to open an envelope with a Broadleaf seal on it. Luckily, Abby was there to do it for him.

Lexa continued sending healer trainees to Abby, but now locating them in Arkadia instead of Polis. This meant a lot of new residents and expansions to the camp. Many of the new healers married Arkadians and took them to their home villages, and others moved to the camp at the encouragement of the returnees, changing their surroundings even further. Marcus and Abby lead the thriving camp together, hand in hand.

Some newcomers would eagerly speculate on their relationship as they noticed the lack of wedding rings. _Hadn't they married a year ago at the peace celebration? If they had divorced, why were they so amiable to each other, even loving?"_

"It's a long story," Raven would sigh. 

After a couple of months of answering the same questions, she gave Marcus a gentle shove in the right direction by molding him an engagement ring. Much to Raven's chagrin, it took another two months before Marcus found the courage to actually offer it to Abby. 

Eventually, he arranged them a quiet, romantic dinner alone and seated her down in the candle-lit garden of Arkadia. As Marcus clasped her fingers within her palm and lowered himself on one knee, Abby released her first sniffle, indicating that she knew what was about to happen. With heart hammering in his throat, he made his offer. 

She said yes.

* * *

Jasper rated their second wedding at 2/5. His reasons were the lack of a lavish feast and fun grounder rituals. Neither the bride or the groom stormed out even once after confessing their love nor were there an exciting sense of dread hanging over the whole occasion like the last time. 

All in all, a grave disappointment. 

Not that Marcus or Abby cared. With their fingers entwined, their eyes closed and their heads lovingly leaning against each other's, they seemed too blissful to comment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this fic so ridiculously much that it pains me a little that it's now finished. 
> 
> Firstly, I want to thank donnawanderoff for her priceless help. Secondly, I want to thank everyone who read this, commented or left kudos. Every single kind word really made a difference and helped me to finish this. Please let me know what you thought about this story as a whole, it would mean a lot to me.
> 
> Love you all, you truly made my whole year xxx


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